C-Love Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 I guess I"m the only one who feels this was a good backup plan by Gainey and company. He's Cheap, expendable at any time, could fill in the gaps either with the big club or the dogs if he's cleared. Give him a chance to make mends! He could surprise us an start playing D for a change. I for one... Trust in Gainey. And support this more 100% Yes you are the only one who feels this is a good backup plan. He is cheap and expendable because he is not an NHL defenseman. The reason some may be overreacting is that he sucks! Personally I would have hoped that BG would have made some move to help the defence but he has made none. Time will tell if this move is anything to be worked up about.... It is something to be worked up about because it tells Habs fans where we are depth wise on defense. Can't hurt to have extra depth IMO You're right, it can't hurt to have extra depth. The problem is you don't understand what depth is. If you have a guy that is costing you goals and wins on a consistent basis and does not contribute ANYTHING positive you are not a depth man. I could sign a small contract with the Habs, which would be the same as Traverse because we would both hinder the team,....but I guarantee that if BG signed me, there would be some people on this forum to say, he knew what he was doing, and to just relax. Adding a body can hardly be a negative just because the guy sucks. It's depth. Again, it's not depth, unless it helps your team in some way. Using that logic would assume that if we signed Lebeau, Petrov, Ivanans, etc, etc wouldn't be bad, because they give us depth. If a player does not contribute because he is not good enough, he makes your team worse, not better. Depth means that a player can step in and 'hold the fort' so to speak. Traverse can't do that. I think he has only player a handfull of NHL games since he left Montreal. He is undoubtably one of the worst defensemen to ever play in the NHL, how is that a good depth move? When I look for depth I look for quality not quantity, this guy adds absolutely nothing to this organization. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
habscout Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 You know, having "NHL experience" doesn't mean anything to me if that experience was bad! I will guarantee that the Habs are in trouble if Traverse has to play more than 1 minute for Montreal this season, or ever. I think Pat Hickey's comments are short sighted, and he has poor long term memory. Insurance is only good if it works for you, not against you. Looking at it from the bright sight: Pat Traverse has NHL experience and will probably get the leauge minimum. He's also familiar with the team and the city and knows exactly what's comming. Traverse is also a perfect "throw-in" player in a trade if the other team is having the same problem as the Habs: Too few left defencemen. I don't expect Traverse to play more than a few games and maybe he will be a leader for the younger guys on the farm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smon Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 Maybe it's just me - but how exactly does Patrick Traverse warrant a four page thread? He's just depth. When either Souray, Cote or Bouillon return from the IR - he's shipped to the minors and back to obscurity. Who cares? Yeah it'd be nice to get a real NHL calibre guy, but you aren't going get one like that for free off waivers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 Maybe it's just me - but how exactly does Patrick Traverse warrant a four page thread? He's just depth. When either Souray, Cote or Bouillon return from the IR - he's shipped to the minors and back to obscurity. Who cares? Yeah it'd be nice to get a real NHL calibre guy, but you aren't going get one like that for free off waivers. The stampede like thread has been hit.......the voice of reason has spoken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre the Great Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 Because people think he'll start or something. He won't even play in a game I bet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beliveau1 Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 (edited) Traverse - love him or hate him!!!!! (and most are in the latter boat it seems?) Personally I'll reserve judgment on him this round until I've seen him play - I do know what I thought the last time round! As for guys in a panic, all I can say is that at least this time he's not expected to play a regular shift like he was from the get go the last time. He's a bit part that's here on a temporary pass...... And for those saying they'd be as good a depth choice as he is - my my my...... Traverse was a third round draft choice by the Senators in 92 who hasn't lived up to his potential. Who on this board can say that they were considered amongst the top 50 prospects in any given year in the world? As for telling us about the depth of the defence on this team - it says nothing other than the fact that Gainey realizes that the few prospects in the organization who could be in a position to graduate aren't quite ready for prime time. It certainly doesn't indicate they are hopeless. Just not a viable option at this point..... Good teams need depth at defence - a marginal NHL'er with experience is always a better injury call-up option than an unseasoned AHL'er who may never crack the lineup & spends the rest of their career riding the shuttle bus back & forth. Traverse is probably here because they'd prefer to recall him here & there and risk losing him over a young prospect - people are forgetting the waiver rules. It's a low cost low risk bandaid solution. No long term commitment that still allows young guys to develop in the AHL, and they have a career AHL'er to pair a young prospect up with. He's nothing more than a body - and who here knows for sure that he hasn't improved? Most defenceman are notoriously slow to develop, and even harder to find. Edited September 29, 2006 by beliveau1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTH Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 Yes you are the only one who feels this is a good backup plan. He is cheap and expendable because he is not an NHL defenseman. It is something to be worked up about because it tells Habs fans where we are depth wise on defense. You're right, it can't hurt to have extra depth. The problem is you don't understand what depth is. If you have a guy that is costing you goals and wins on a consistent basis and does not contribute ANYTHING positive you are not a depth man. I could sign a small contract with the Habs, which would be the same as Traverse because we would both hinder the team,....but I guarantee that if BG signed me, there would be some people on this forum to say, he knew what he was doing, and to just relax. Again, it's not depth, unless it helps your team in some way. Using that logic would assume that if we signed Lebeau, Petrov, Ivanans, etc, etc wouldn't be bad, because they give us depth. If a player does not contribute because he is not good enough, he makes your team worse, not better. Depth means that a player can step in and 'hold the fort' so to speak. Traverse can't do that. I think he has only player a handfull of NHL games since he left Montreal. He is undoubtably one of the worst defensemen to ever play in the NHL, how is that a good depth move? When I look for depth I look for quality not quantity, this guy adds absolutely nothing to this organization. Depth means the guy steps in and plays a couple of minutes on the 3rd pairing when there are a couple of injuries. The guy might suck but since we have injuries he is our SEVENTH defenceman. He may not even play any games - but if he does then he will help us. You have to be unbelievably terrible to hinder a team (unless it's your attitude). You also shouldn't just say that this guy will be terrible and do absolutely nothing positive for us. The season hasn't begun yet. We haven't seen him play in years. He hasn't done anything wrong yet. Let's watch and see. I'm sure our season won't be ruined because a bad player took a couple of shifts for us before being waived. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre the Great Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 He'll be eating nachos getting heart burn indegestion in the press box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 NOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, it's almost out of my system. Now, acquiring Traverse shows how potentially bad Souray's shoulder is. I would much rather have seen Jancevski, Benoit and/or O'Byrne been given some icetime. Unless Traverse has *really* improved as a defenceman, then I cannot stand the thought of having to watch him cough up the puck in the worst possible moment while wearing a Habs uniform, again. IMHO, Traverse was one of the 5 worst defenceman ever to have donned a Habs jersey. In no particular order, my list also includes Murray Baron, Darryl Shannon, Christian Laflamme and Patrice Brisebois. I agree that Traverse is a Travesty, but calling Brisebois one of the 5 worst D ever to play for us is so ridiculous that it almost devalues your whole statement. Bob probably has little awareness of Travesty's specific history here - I suspect he was just looking for a cheap, low-grade vet to ride the pine and eat up a few minutes on the occasional night, and figured 'hey, this guy's French (bonus!) and knows the city, etc..' A reasonable calculation by normal standards... You can put it in a better light: the Habs are now so much BETTER than we were in 2001 that we actually can afford to have this guy in our organization and come out unscathed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smon Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 On that note, yes that is indeed something to be thankful for. I remember when les glorieux were regularly playing guys like Jason Dawe, Jim Campbell and Dave Morrisette. Yeesh, those were not good times to be a Habs fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlbalr Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 I'm surprised that the team felt they needed a more experience player to sit in the press box. It should also be mentioned that Jancevski was ahead of Traverse on the Stars' depth chart last season, which really depressed me when I realized that. Oh well, life goes on, and he'll be in Hamilton (hopefully) soon enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonus Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 I'm surprised that the team felt they needed a more experience player to sit in the press box. It should also be mentioned that Jancevski was ahead of Traverse on the Stars' depth chart last season, which really depressed me when I realized that. Oh well, life goes on, and he'll be in Hamilton (hopefully) soon enough. out of curiosity - according to whom? a lot of automated depth charts on sports sites are really off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bebehabs Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 like all of u : I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT HE'S BACK! come on!!! we had so much pain seeing him at the blue line... i rather see a kid making the team than seeing this guy at our blue line... oh well... this will give souray a break... i mean... people will hate his plays more than sheldon's hahaha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre the Great Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 I'm telling you guys he's not even going to play a game this year. He'll be drinking soda in the press box. Souray probably won't play later today and just rest him for the opener. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAK Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 He'll be eating nachos getting heart burn indegestion in the press box. wouldn't do him bad. he needs to put on some pounds. the poor guys is thiner then is sticks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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