Does he need a couple of line-mates? Kovalev and Samsonov would be a nice fit…

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Habs were expecting more from him this year…
Habs should’ve traded him and got something for him.

1 more spot in the line-up, 600,000 less salary.

Leads me to think that there is a management problem with Russians, Kovalev, Samsonov, Perezhogin, etc…

I kinda got to agree with you Avatar37. The Habs have lost Perezhogin and soon will have to rid themselves of Samsonov and potentially Kovalev as well. Smyth and Gomez would be nice signings, but if not I would like to see what some other Habs prospects can do. Guys like Milroy, Ferland and D’Agostini who are ummmmm oh yeah all Canadian born and bred. All 3 of these guys scored 20+ goals for the Bulldogs this past year. Maybe D’Agostini is a bit too young yet but give Ferland and Milroy a try. Samsonov and Perezhogin 15 goals between them in 124 games. I would also like to see the Canadiens go a bit more North American.

Hey JOshtm;

There is clearly no spot available for Dandy this year. I could see him returning to Detroit and stepping up however. Frankie will have a better year and will be our 5th d man. ALso Georges will get a better chance and will improve.

Question Joshtm. IF Dandy and Boullion are dealt then will we have to hear about Saku’s hooking penalty every waking moment?

Perezhogin was a major disapointment last year for me. I really thought he’d break out. Instead he took hooking penalties once every two shifts and shot the puck over the net 75% of the time.

But this was all about money, don’t kid yourselves. This had nothing to do with the so called ‘Russian Problem’ in Montreal. Did you see the money he’s getting for a guy that scored 6 goals? He’s making 1.7 million TAX FREE. That’s the equivalent to making 3.4 million with the Habs. There’s no way in hell the Habs would give him that kind of dough, and Perezhogin would have been crazy to turn down the money he was given, and he lost his spot to Kostitsyn at the end of the year.

But the good news is the Habs have one of their top defensive prospects under wraps with a contract. Mathieu Carle has been signed to a three year deal. Niw they have to get Valentenko and Emelin over to Hamilton. The Habs have the makings of one of the best, if not the best, defence in the NHL in 4-5 years.

I always had a soft spot for the AHL slasher, and now he’s gone. I suppose we still hold his rights, for whatever good that does us. Perhaps he makes getting our other Russians over a bit more difficult(as in Emelin and Valentenko). They had a tease promo on TSN about it last night–”Which russian bolts for russia?” and showed pics of him, Kovalev and Samsonov. Too bad all three aren’t gone…

This only hurts the habs, long term, as fewer and fewer foreign born players will want to play here. Not that this is a completely bad thing, IMO, as all too many russians seem to only go where the cash is, and couldn’t care less about the Cup. If the Russian teams start throwing more of the same kind of coin around, I have a feeling there could be an exodus(if not a MASS exodus) of fringe to mid level players going over there to earn a fortune.

Face it, no NHL team would’ve given Perezhogin that kind of money. He’s proven nothing. Looks like they’ll be targetting disgruntled Russians in off contract years, and I think many of them will go home. Might see some Canadians and other Europeans head there too, if it is that lucrative. I can’t fault a guy leaving one job to go work at the same trade for three times the money.

If I was working overseas, and got offered 3 x the money I was making to come home to Canada and work, I’d jump at it too. Especially if I felt any racism (real or imagined) were in play. So have fun, Slasher. You might never have won a cup in Montreal, but you sure won’t win one in Russia.

Hey wouldn’t Bob and Carbo look good managing these losers over there?

I was just singing that old Randy Newman song ‘SHORT PEOPLE” LOL, missed the game yesterday between the BIG TALENTED SENS ,”Who I’LL pick to be in the finals with the BIG DUCKS TEAM”AND THE SMALLER intimidated SABERS CLUB,but I pretty well new what the results would and will be !!!I’TS NOT A MATTER OF IF YOU LIKE THE SENS, FOR ME,IT A STUDY OF WHAT MY TEAM “THE HABS “HAVE TOO DO TO BE A WINNER !!!! IT’S A LOT BETTER TO STUDY AND UNDERSTAND THE GAME as a fan,than to just talk out of your A S S !!!!!!!!

Actually I am very excited about both Gainey and Carbonneau. How could you not be. This team has great talent…yeah ok they did not make the playoffs, because they really need to sort our their issues (Russian). A team needs leadership…Sakku…Great job, Kovalev and Samsonov…Russian. Anyone know the history of these countries? Not Good! Get rid of the Russians because they have been absolutely brutal. Now that there will be salary available, pick up a few big tickets and watch. Lappierre, Latendresse, Higgins…keep it up guys…you will be the future of this team. Huet and Halak for the next couple of years, then bring in Price. Huet will burn out then and have the two kids battle it out. Hab Fan Forever.

I still say, as I had said earlier in the year, we can probably help little Sakku if we bring someone like Mikko Koivu over, heck they finished second and gave Canada a run for the gold at the worlds. That would probably calm Sakku and his hooking habit. A steady team mate who can work well with Sakku would bring him back to his old glory of a few years ago when Sakku and a better combination could have brought us into the playoffs, in fact he did, at least we got our foot in the door.

The past few years have shown that Sakku has no one on the team who can play up to his calibre, so in a way he ends up playing as an individual as opposed to being a team player. In a way you could almost say Sakku is wasted as a player in Montreal, he could probably do well in any other NHL team, say with a cup contender, like the wings or maybe even the ducks.

Otherwise we all end up in a up down thing with Sakku, we love him when he scores, we hate him when he gets those stupid hooking penalties that cost a lead and lead into a slump.

I am not saying Sakku is individually responsible, well a little bit, he is a bit responsible for our slide after X-mas that cost us a sure spot in the first round of the playoffs, along with the horrible duo of dandenault and bouillon!

Agreed

First off I would like to talk about Koivu’s hooking penalties. HE takes stupid hooking penalties. He takes alot of hooking penalties. There are many times he takes hooking penalties. He takes too many hooking penalties. ALso I have observes Koivu taking hooking penalities. SOmetimes he takes hooking penalties that are because of laziness. Hooking penalties are common for Koivu. SOmetimes he scores then takes a hooking penalty. Hooking peanlties for Koivu are common. Koivu takes too many hooking penalties. Sometimes Koivu takes a hookin penalty when he plays. Koivu had two hooking penalites in one game once. Once Koivu killed off a PP with a hooking penalty. Have I mentioned Koivu takes hooking penalties.

Don’t worry joshtm,we know who he is and not only was he completely wrong in his predictions last season ,but like a lot of fans on this Blog site ,his heart his in the right place but his brains are in his A S S !!!! I find it sooo funny that the same people who pick on you or me or whomever, are the same people “FANS ?”,WHO ARE COMPLETLY WRONG ALLMOST EVERY TIME when ever they make a prediction ! lol.It so make my day !lol . I think if they would put the Xbox down for a bit,they mite get better but then again if my aunt had balls she’d be my uncle !!!lol. Again ,I will point out last years Habs and to be a fan of them was humiliatingly embarrassing.And if any fan of the canadiens don’t remember the last game of the year,then they are transvestite taranna maple ***** in the closet fans ,lol.

Well, at least Markov is on his way back from Russia now that the WHC is over to get his deal finalized and get back with the Habs.

This will be the linchpin of Gainey’s moves. Once he does this he will start up serious negociations with Shelly, start to see if anyone out there will be dumb enough to take Samsonov, and apparently Eklund is reporting that he’s working on a deal to send Kovy to Washington, probably for a mid-level draft pick. And he’s still trying to get Emelin(did anyone else see his sweet goal in the bronze medal game in the WHC?) and Valentenko over here to Hamilton.

And then the draft. I can finally see Gainey pulling off a major deal at the draft for once here. And if he re-signs shelly, that leaves a surplus of NHL defenceman: Markov, Souray, Dandenault, Boullion, Georges, Streit, Komisarek. One of these guys, maybe even two, would be added to a package trade. Most likely Dandenault.

Habs talk is starting up again, and I couldn’t be happier!

While I agree with the sentiments, Habs#1, it could be wishful thinking for us to think any team might take our garbage. Though the Caps are one of a handful of teams with lots of cap space and a dire need to improve, their most pressing need is at center. Sure Backstrum might come over this season, but they’re pretty thin there, and we’re moe like to see them go after a centerman via trade or a UFA. Still, I’m right there with you in the hope department.

I also agree that Gainey will at least try to swing a deal at the draft. Whether we see a bit of tinkering or something huge remains to be seen. Personally, I think he’ll try to move up in the draft via the 2 1st rounders to try for a Gagner or an Esposito for one. While he no doubt would like to move our cancers, and will try hard to do so, we’re like to get one back. We might see the much rumored Aucoin swap happen then…which would mean either Markov or Souray won’t be back–though both have said they want to stay. It’s the salary cap world we deal in.

I would like to see a major deal also, but I have a feeling any such trade would take a player(s) off our roster that the vast majority of us fans want to keep(i.e. Pleks, Higgy). Dandenault would be welcomed back in Detroit, and Boullion might fetch slightly more than a bag of pucks. I just hope Komisarek and/or Streit aren’t the ones to go.

I’m sure we won’t hear any more platitudes from Gainey extolling the great team chemistry the habs have, so it can be hoped that he’ll do more than mere tinkering. I, too, look forward to see what he is going to do. I just hope it doesn’t involve adding more heartless Euros, or contract extensions for the unworthy(we know who they are…).

It is a shame when Gainey wastes money on Johnson, Dandenault and Bouillon, that he has very little breathing room left and is instead forced to blow smoke up everyones butt saying Its great chemistry…more like, Oh Gee i wasted big money on **** and I have to take chemical drugs to compensate for my big mistakes!

Regardless of how much Dandy and Bullion are being paid ,they are not afit for the Habs defensively; they lack the defencive control and size needed to control big power forwards and neither have any form of ashot from the blue line, so I wish them well but ,salute.

For those of you who think the Habs have a chance of signing big names, it ain’t gonna happen. As long as you have Gainey in charge and he wastes money on the likes of Dandenault, Johnson and Bouillon who combined have 16 goals, or 53 points, for 5.3 million, oh gee that works out to almost an outrageous paycheque for getting one point, or for Johson 80 games for 11 goals, I don’t know, when you are paid to score goals and paid almost two million dollars, scoring hardly a dozen goals in 80 games, that just sucks big time. Most good NHL teams also rely on a scoring defense, and Souray and Komisarek at least rank high amongst the defense rankings and in goals. But Dandy and Bouilly? They rank worst than even rookies who have not even played ten games in the NHL, with both playing almost 60 or 70 games apiece. We know they were there, cause hey almost every goal that was scored that was a game winning goal, they had something to do with the giveaways, or screening their own goalie, or worse knocking over their own goalie….man that just sucks big time.

And Koivu at least ranked high in the end overall, but hey at great expense, scoring and assisting in quite a few games, is good, but hey when you spend half the season in the penalty box with wimpy penalties like Hooks that cost your team the lead and end in a loss, hey Sakku, don’t score, don’t get big headed, if you have to don’t even score, so you don’t get pissed off when you get knocked over by some big goon of a defenseman, Sakku, retire early, do Montreal a favour, we like to hear Shanana Hey Hey Good bye, but thanks to you Sakku, very few habs games had those great songs and instead we had a season of faggots singing Oh Ey Oh Ey…thanks Sakku…

Good-bye ity bity small Sabers team, not even close of a series against the Big Mighty Sens,SO ONCE AGAIN SIZE WINS IN PLAY-OFF N.H.L. HOCKEY!!! DO YOU GET IT NOW FANS???? This is the direction we must take !!!! Pink slip time FOR ALL THE LITTLE GUYS ON THE HABS Bob !!!!

Ya, it is pretty sweet to see Gainey get the credit he deserves for the drafting he’s done, even though he’s getting it from hockey’s future and not from the jackal fans who jump on the guy when he’s down just because the Habs don’t win the cup every year, even though that’s impossible.

In other news, Eklund is reporting that the LA Kings are the favorites to land Souray. While Markov is still favoured to go back to MTL.

And he has the Habs as favorites to land both Dany Briere and Dainus Zubrus. Also apparently Mathieu Schneider wants to come back to Montreal. That would be a great signing by the Habs cause he’s come cheaper then Souray and would replace his PP shot.

Dear Habs #1,I think it’s been 14 years since our beloved Habs have won a cup plus Houle and Savard did a lot of the work with prospects as Gainey has stated and as far as Eklund goes ,ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ! Do yourself a favor Habs # 1 demand more for our team,that’s the job of the fans !It’s great news about the prospects ,but they havn’t done gipe yet!