Canadiens will not make the playoffs....

[diebels]

according to The Hockey News

have a look at the article

I especially like the second paragraph

The Habs didn't make a ton of noise during this summer's free agent frenzy, and they lost some key components in the process. Gone are defensemen Patrice Brisebois, Karl Dykhuis and Stephane Quintal, while the only significant addition was blueliner Mathieu Dandenault.

Oh yeah, we all will miss Brisebois and Dykhuis. :puke:

[shortcat1]

I read the article and there's no way that one can come to the conclusion that the 'Canadiens will not make the playoffs from what was written.

At worse, he said they may be left 'falling short' because of the reliance on the younger players being brought up.

Of course, I disagree with the writer but his whole article wasn't that negative.

:ghg::ghg::ghg:

[DANFALCAO]

if u guys didnt notice the hockynews is all leafs fans

lol of course there going to say habs arent going to make the playoffs i read a magazine of them and they have there predictions and they think that lindros will play 72 something like that games and get around 80 points and they have a guy like kovalev with just 50 points and just under 70 games with 50 points when has kovalev had a season where he missd a shit load of games there all bullshit just like any other leaf fan stubborn cant see that the habs this year have a better team then them like i honesty think the leafs had a better team last year and they went nowhere and the habs have almost the same team which played good with tons of upside added dandenault which i think is better than bres and have a shit load of prospects that are hot and ready for the nhl

[Fanpuck33_]

PLEASE use some punctuation dude!

[Tony_]

Originally posted by DANFALCAO

if u guys didnt notice the hockynews is all leafs fans

lol of course there going to say habs arent going to make the playoffs i read a magazine of them and they have there predictions and they think that lindros will play 72 something like that games and get around 80 points and they have a guy like kovalev with just 50 points and just under 70 games with 50 points when has kovalev had a season where he missd a shit load of games there all bullshit just like any other leaf fan stubborn cant see that the habs this year have a better team then them like i honesty think the leafs had a better team last year and they went nowhere and the habs have almost the same team which played good with tons of upside added dandenault which i think is better than bres and have a shit load of prospects that are hot and ready for the nhl

lol my face turned people trying to read that whole sentence.

Frankly, if you ask me the loss of those three defensements might benefit the team more instead of the dreadfulness the hockey news believes it will cause.

[The Saint]

It's called addition by subtraction folks.

It can be that simple.

In our case, it is.

[habspool.com]

Canadiens is an underrated team this years. Just as Tampa Bay and Calgary were.

Let them talk, season will speak and will not lie.

[Howie_Morenz]

All I have to say to The (Toronto Maple Leaf) Hockey News is "Up yer Kilt"

They have no concept of the Habs. Habs organization growing impatient with Hossa. And the source of the quote was ???

I find it hard to separate fact from fiction in media in North America. It is all spin to make them look good. I bought too many copies of this magazine in the old days and it was well done as a startup company.

Now I get more information from the board members here than I can ever hope to get from them. Keep up the great work here HW members.

[Capt.Crunch]

The Habs didn't make a ton of noise during this summer's free agent frenzy, and they lost some key components in the process.

I wonder what was the key components? These players played at least 1 game in 2003-2004 and will not be back.

*Patrice Brisebois (COL)

*Jason Ward (NYR)

*Karl Dykuis (still no contract... tum de dum...)

*Yanic Perreault (last heard he was fighting for a job with the preds)

*Jim Dowd (dont know where he landed)

*Joe Juneau (retired)

*Andreas Dackell (hmmm... dunno)

*Stephane Quintal (retired)

*Darren Langdon (still dunno)

*Benoit Gratton (fell of the edge of the earth)

*Sylvain Blouin (was on the same boat as Gratton)

The only key player there would be, in my humble opinion, Brisebois. Not very earth shattering or frightening.

Gone are defensemen Patrice Brisebois, Karl Dykhuis and Stephane Quintal, while the only significant addition was blueliner Mathieu Dandenault.

Hmmmm... 2 out of the 3 aforementioned names would not be able to be significant nhlers in IMO.

The club also made somewhat of a surprising move by re-signing sniper Alexei Kovalev

I was suprised we could get him, not that we wanted to.

GM Bob Gainey let go several dependable veterans with the expectation that his guys in their early 20s can come through.

I have a problem with the adjective "dependable". It makes it look as though they were to be more productive than the "early 20s guys". If in doubt look at the first list *ahem*.

With the departures on defense, look for returning vets Sheldon Souray and Craig Rivet to pick up the slack.

Oh shit, now we are in deep trouble...

Rivet, meanwhile, has been a mainstay for some time. He doesn't provide much from an offensive standpoint, but he is aggressive and doesn't shy away from the physical stuff.

Rivet is neither aggressive nor physical. We *wish* Rivet would be aggressive and physical. It is not good to mistake the two, young padawan.

On another train of though, when Rivet fancies himself with a small dose of aggressivity, he finds himself more often than not out of position. So I guess it is the lesser of two evils than Sir.rivet does not get too aggressive.

Theodore is among the league's elite... Perhaps his best asset is the ability to be a workhorse

I disgress, Theodore's best assets are sound positioning, a good technical approach and quick lateral movement. It is also to be noted that the smaller equipment will not affect him as much as other, bulkier goalkeepers.

this could be a developmental season in Montreal, one that has the team in contention until the very end

A developmental season is not knowing which player will be able to fill the two top lines and not having a strong enough farm to help you with the effort. 2000-2004 were developmental seasons.

This season is marked with a lot of great young guns coming up from the farm and knocking on the door.

You are not having a developmental season when the only question on the two top lines is whether you should put a hot rookie who got 33 pts in 43 games with Avangard (and finished with 16 pts his 15 last games) instead of a guy who scored 17 goals in 50 games.

And, as a sideline, your third center is Radek Bonk (who, like it or not, played in the top ottawa lines), your third left wing apparently played a key role in his last year in the Czech Republic (alongside Hedjuk, apparently on the same line as Hemsky), finished with a 45-24-25-49 record, was tied in the playoff lead in goals (16-7-4-11) and was runner-up for the "top rookie" award.

I will not expand on the other prospect as it would only bore you maniacs (you probably know as much, or much more than me hehe).

I agree that we could be in trouble if we depended on Rivet and Souray to "pick up the slack".

However, I believe that Markov, Dandeneault and Bouillon will fare very well in an era where the opposing lines enters your zone at mach1 and where speed, positioning and defensive awareness becomes actually a premium at that position.

Where beef is needed, Komisarek will do very well to help and is believed to be (per MCKeen's evaluation) "... a real task to beat one-on-one due to his mobility and his monster wingspand..."

All in all, good for the playoffs, not quite enough for the cup.

[PMAC]

As Capt crunch and others have so ablely pointed out a pretty crappy article. I guess the part that bugged me most was the writer's ignorance of the fact that KD was unable to crack the pre- lock out line-up and spent most of his time in the AHL-- not exactly the kind of "dependable" vet teams are clamouring for.

Also the tone, questioning the wisdom of BG going with the kids-- how else do you properly develop a team?!

Oh, I forgot! he could have signed a group of over the hill, fragile or never-were's like TO

[Dutch_Habs_Fan]

Originally posted by Capt.Crunch

*Karl Dykuis (still no contract... tum de dum...)

Karl plays in Mannheim Germany in the DEL. He played this week and had a Goal and an Assist

[hankhab]

What you guys all need to do, and which I will do (I couldn't believe it either, Lindros 72 games? When was the last time that happened?) is write in and let the people at THN know how childish and biased they have become, and stop whining about it on here.

[PMAC]

Hank... Chill Dude

We are not whining!

We are expressing righteous indignation.

We are using our right of free expression to trash that THN rag which masquerades as an impartial purveyor of in-depth hockey knowledge.

We rant, we rave,

we bitch(about referees)

we moan( about how no one appreciates the Habs in the media)

we cry (when they lose... shhhhhh, don't tell anyone)

we shout (when they win lose or draw)

BUT

We never, ever WHINE :king:

:ghg:

[Howie_Morenz]

hankhab you are right. Although writing to a Toronto Rag as a fan of the mighty Montreal Canadiens will only get ignored. They dont care about any team but Toronto as the Leafs generate so much money here it is incredible. I dont hate the Leaf team, in fact some of my favorite players were Leafs. Sittlers 10 point night against Boston is still unmatched and I loved it.

I like to criticize Toronto Maple Leaf fans and Toronto media only! Its all in good fun though as realistically there is not hate in my heart for any human being in any country.

Can you smell the winds of Lord Stanleys mug headed for the fabulous province of Quebec!:bow:

[Lister100]

I agree about the bias in media. Its great to have a site to clear your head of the lousy Leaf fan propaganda.

Not only are they threatened by our proud history but of the prospect of a resurrected Habs market. There are still lost habs fans that are bit by bit dawning the red white and blue again seeing new possibilities in this management and team. Leafers don't want anything to challenge their hold of the market so they spread lies far and wide even going to the trouble of writing articles in what should be Habs media.

Their house of cards is tumbling down though. Over the last few years I was amazed to see the creation of the cynical Leaf fan(an ailment our fans have long suffered from). There are a growing number of Leaf fans that want results and are willing to voice their discontentedness with 'boos' and 'hisses'. Soon will be the day where they will have no more mindless masses willing to support a big market mediocrely performing team.

Without the zombie support the Leafs are doomed. So the question is how long can the media keep the blinders on our fans and theres.

[Leafs Suck]

thn.service@transcontinental.ca

Write them and complain. Remind them you will never buy their paper again. It'll make things interesting...

[~moeman]

Pure cr@p. When I read an article that says "Saku Koivu was the feel-good story in the NHL a few years back, but now he is simply the Habs' captain", I feel like kicking a leaf fan in the face. THN is a fascist leaf organ.

[~moeman]

BTW, my dog won't p!ss and my budgie won't sh!t on a rag like THN.

[JLP]

Are these sour grapes or what -- disgraced former play-by-play man Dino Sisto says the Habs will finish 13th in the East!

Sisto column

:eyes:

[simonus]

wow... just about everything he said was wrong.... not to mention that he forgot that

A) Dandenault is on the team

B) Kovalev proved last year that he can just about score 20 goals while unconscious

C) Dagenais almost pissed out 20 goals in a shortened season

D) Bonk has been a plus player for the last 4 years, and that was when he was trying to be an offensive pivot

E) Zednik scored 26 goals without his pivot for a large chunk of the season.

F) That many people can get better, rather than everybody just playing worse... maybe ryder will be better this year than he was last? Maybe Komisarek?

Ugh... why did i just respond to that?