Sheldon Souray Contract Offer
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The Canadiens made their first official contract offer to Sheldon Souray.
By the comments of Sheldon’s agent it doesn’t look like it was anything that shocked them.
“We got the offer,” he told the paper. “It’s May, late May, but it’s still early, and we’re just going to sit here and evaluate Sheldon’s free-agent options over the next couple of weeks.”
By the sounds of it, it seems they intend to test the market as most everyone expected.
If that’s the case then Sheldon Souray will have been lost for nothing, in a year the Habs didn’t even qualify for the playoffs.
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May 31st, 2007 at 11:15 am
What was the offer made?
May 31st, 2007 at 11:24 am
LaPresse is saying just over 4 Million but nothings official.
May 31st, 2007 at 11:52 am
I think a deal can get done. If he wants to stay it will get done. I BELIEVE money will not be an issue, I also BELIEVE the Habs will give him what he wants unless its really outragous. But then again what I believe will happen may never happen. In which case Mr. Gainey will have made a big mistake in not trading him at the deadline.
May 31st, 2007 at 12:48 pm
How does anyone say with a straight face that Bob made the mistake of not trading Souray at the deadline… listen you meatheads no one knows what was offered or even if there was a decent offer made…trades are made between two parties not one guy makes a trade ….get real.
May 31st, 2007 at 12:52 pm
I wouldn’t sign him, he just has a terrible +- score and is overpriced.
Only get him if it is almost certain that he can be traded before the preseason.
May 31st, 2007 at 1:53 pm
II would hate to lose his shot, as our #1 ranked pp essentially revolved around it. The more I think about it, however, his disappointing play 5 on 5 lost us more games than his shot on the power play won us. He’s just not worth the 6+ million he can command on the open market.
May 31st, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Don Carnage
Posted on May 31st, 2007 at 12:48 pm. About ‘Sheldon Souray Contract Offer’.
How does anyone say with a straight face that Bob made the mistake of not trading Souray at the deadline… listen you meatheads no one knows what was offered or even if there was a decent offer made…trades are made between two parties not one guy makes a trade ….get real.
ya get real… all you have to do is open your eyes and look around and see the vast overpayments made for marginal players at the deadline. well duh when making trades you need 2 willing participants, thanks for enlightening us all. letting assets walk away for nothing is what’s stupid. I can inderstand why contending teams don’t trade there UFA’s when they know they aren’t going to be returning next season, but i can’t understand why marginal teams would hang onto a valueble asset that they are probably going to loose for nothing. if you think Gainey couldn’t of gotten at least equivelant return to what we recieved for Rivet than you need to get your head examined. if Gainey thought he could or wanted to re-sign Souray than i understand his choice, however when you are a marginal team you cant let assets like that walk away for nothing. we aren’t talking about the Johnson’s and Bonks of the world, we all due respect but they aren’t in Souray’s class or have the value he has.
May 31st, 2007 at 3:10 pm
Regardless of what anyone says, the big shot from the blueline, a la Al McInnis, is what every winning team needs. Souray also punches the lights out of players who mess with his teammates, and that’s just as important. Forget about his 5 on 5 stuff, Montreal needs Sheldon Souray. However, if they want to lose somebody, lose Steve Begin.
May 31st, 2007 at 3:30 pm
I have no idea where this $4 million # came from, as I’ve seen nothing about it, anywhere. Still, taking it at face value, it is akin to an insult, given what Markov got. I hear a lot of people complaining about his defensive side, 5 on 5 play, etc., and few acknowledging the obvious. The obvious being that the “New NHL,” has made good special teams essential to a team’s success. Without having the #1 PP last year, which Souray made what it was via booming shots and crisp passing, we’d have been in the basement with Philly. I kind of enjoyed the sure knowledge that we’d score on the pp almost every game, and often more than once.
I agree that it is unlikely that Souray will get 26 again next year, but even 18 or 20 is about the sum of the rest of the defence, and worth more than $4 mil. Souray’s on-ice leadership, willingness to defend his teammates, overall size and toughness, as well as his huge point blast make him worth keeping, regardless of defensive shortcomings. So I say, sign him. Not for Chara kind of dough though. If Markov is worth $5.75/year, so is Souray.
May 31st, 2007 at 3:40 pm
I honestly hope they dontsign souray, at least not long term. no longer than 2 years for a few reasons, without his shot he is nothing and he is injury prone. And i dont like the feeling of having 2 contracts at 5.75 mil for the next for years. That really handcuffs us. and that completely takes us out of the lecavalier sweepstakes in 2 years.
May 31st, 2007 at 4:56 pm
If Markov is worth 5.75 so if Souray? huh ya if you think Souray is as good overall as a defenceman as Markov. sorry Markov is a better defenceman overall than Souray, totally differant players, but in this case it’s obvious who’s the better player overall shouldn’t be much debate about that either. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sheldon himself agrees.
May 31st, 2007 at 5:05 pm
JOshtm is licking his chops at this result. IF we lose him, let the Gainey bashing start. IF we sign him let the Gianey bashing start. IF he retires then same thing. JOShtm is soooo pumped his mother is makin ghim some pink lemonade.
May 31st, 2007 at 5:15 pm
Said it once, I’ll say it again,
Souray was never coming back. He should have been traded at the deadline. If Rivet could fetch a young defenceman and a frist round pick, Souray could have gotten a king’s ransom.
He’s going for the money like almost every other player in the NHL.
May 31st, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Let it be heard, Bob Gainey did EVERYTHING right. I’m tired of people asking for his head and bashing him. You need to balance the numbers with what Souray brings to the table in the future as well as realize what he has done for us in the past.
For those of you saying we should have traded him at the deadline, it’s called hindsight bias. Sure, looking back, we could have traded him to half a dozen teams that would have thrown first and second round draft picks at us. But since I’m talking to habs, I’m sure you guys are all aware of of exactly where we stood at the deadline… we were in the hunt. Gainey was thinking, get Souray in the playoffs and that powerplay will be explosive and we’ll be quite thankful we kept him. You don’t trade away key players when you’re fighting for a playoff position, what kind of message would that send the fans. You think i’d be excited to turn on the TV down the month of March knowing that we gave away one of the hottest shots in the league? ***** no.
Today however, Gainey sees the pretty numbers Souray put up and the not-so-pretty plus/minus he had and asks himself how much Souray is truly worth. You sign him to a five year contract at 5.5 million and let’s say it pays off, let’s say Souray turns into a plus 10 D-man and still has a canon shot after five years. You know what you do then, you lift your hands to the heavens and thank the hockey Gods for a miracle, because really, a miracle is what it would be. Let’s be honest, in two years, Sourays shot may not hold the same weight it used to. The shot has reached it’s plateau and i’m sorry, but it’s only going to hang up there for so long. Think about it: shoulder injury + poor plus minus + deteriorating shot over TIME = a nice guy with a 5.5 million dollar BURDEN. I heart Souray, but not that much.
Don’t get me wrong, Souray has got more to him than a mad, killer, crazy shot, he’s got heart, he’s a leader, a fighter and he’s the first man to hold the interviews in our dressing room. But you know what…. Begin is making 1.2 million next year and apart from his shot, he holds some of the same cards. And so, you offer Souray a four to five million dollar contract for THREE years… and if he walks away, you now have more money to spend somewhere else (maybe another pointman with a shot… who can play D).
Trust this Gainey guy, I think he’s on to something.
GO HABS GO!
May 31st, 2007 at 7:51 pm
Very well said.
May 31st, 2007 at 7:54 pm
http://www.canadiens.com/eng/news/redirect.cfm?sectionID=habsNewsDetails.cfm&newsItemID=5940
May 31st, 2007 at 10:13 pm
Bouillon and Dandeneault will be in the All Star game this year.
June 1st, 2007 at 12:01 am
I heard Bouillon has been working on that rocket wrister he has. I got see him potting 30 goals on the PP this yeat with that shot of his.
June 1st, 2007 at 5:17 am
EZ. You’re going to make Joshtm reach for the Pepto (his throat, anyway) with all this Boullion love.
June 1st, 2007 at 5:28 am
Maybe Souray could play 5 on 5 on the 4th line as a center, charging the net or something. Then, when montreal has a powerplay or is excerting great pressure on the attacking end, he can play as a defencemen on the point. He is just not good enough a defensive defenceman to have him play defense all the time.
June 1st, 2007 at 5:31 am
http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article.main&articleId=55283&requestTimeout=900
This is a fun read that details some of the e-mail spying that Saskin and Kim were into, for any who haven’t read it. It can also be found via Habs inside/out.
June 1st, 2007 at 7:13 pm
You wanna know why Gainey is only paying Souray 4 mill? Cause he’s also gonna overpay Dandy and Bouilly.
For all you Gainey lovers out there, he made his own bed, he got himself into this horrible mess of being blackmailed by the Russian mafia.
And then he’s got this payola stuff of overpaying no good players like Johnson, Downie and don’t forget the lovely twins Dandy and Bouilly, yup, they give Crazy Bob a share of the payola in return for not caring if they perform or not, just as long as they get the big paycheck…
June 1st, 2007 at 7:48 pm
Saku: Hey Crazy Bob, I hear you are looking for help for me. Just make sure they are small, not too big, you know I’m the captain and I can’t lead players who are bigger and better than me. Oh by the way, make sure they have high penalty minutes for stupid penalties okay Crazy Bob?
Crazy Bob: Okay Sakku, I signed two today, one he’s not much bigger than you, and his specialty is also hooking penalties, maybe that’ll take pressure off you that this Joshtm keeps reminding everyone about, the other is a small defenseman, so when you don’t score and get into a slump again we can blame defense, you know the way we did blaming it all on Souray last year.
Sakku: Great Crazy Bob, you are the best! These crazy habs fans on Habslog are right about you being a “god-like” guy…..can you also make sure that Guy also changes lines every other game to take pressure off me some more? And keep those rookies down in Hamilton okay? They play too good and make me look bad okay, after all I got you an x-ray machine or whatever that thing is for the hospital okay?
Crazy Bob: Okay Sakku whatever you say, as long as we don’t win…..and don’t forget my 2 percent on all those millions I overpay okay?
June 1st, 2007 at 8:12 pm
You need a life dude.Like for real.Do you even have a job or leave the house.You do this site more harm than good repeating the same thing over and over.We know about saku and his hooking penalties we know how bad dandy and boully suck we know about crazy bob and his signing of broken down players.We know this team is going nowhere.OK WE GET IT.How long will it take you to repeat it again. Take a guess anyone?
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:07 am
So this summer’s great Crazy Bob move is lets send some more rookies to Hamilton….hmm….like Biron was supposed to be his big move last year, and Biron was supposed to surface sometime around playoff time….interesting.
Its like Gainey is using the excuse of supposedly signing great rookies for a great future. The only problem is Carbo basically destroys the confidence of rookies and the rookies are basically jaded to death with the likes of crappy play by Sakku, Alexei, Booze Johnson and Limp Ninny, where is the Great Chemistry? So this is Building The Team? Signing two midget players to play for the Dogs? One who spends more time in the penalty box than playing, the other so small he couldn’t stop a limp noodle, great another Ninny type.
That’s Building The Team?
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:38 am
Yawn/Sigh
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:46 am
So let it be remembered, and let it be remembered who said it when….come December when we throw our remotes at the tv one more time, watching Sakku compete with Lahti for Hooking Penalties, or the great falling down contest between Johnson and Russell, while Souray scores on us wearing his Ducks uniform, while Markov lays on his back on top of Price. Oh ya, that was a great build there Gainey. Let it be remembered it was Habs8 and Pactum who thought letting Souray go so we could buy more small midgets that mascarade as NHL players but who spend all their time either in the penalty box or outmuscled and on the ice. Letting Souray go all but means we lose what little muscle there is on the team. So what do you think of that? Oh gee those little Finnish hockey players skate so well, but get knocked around pretty good, oh Gee when did we see that last time, oh wait when Canada beat Finland’s butt!! This is Building The Team?
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:54 am
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
June 2nd, 2007 at 1:09 am
Typical. Next we await, oh wait, the Habs are already doing that, bringing out the old folgies to retire their sweaters, reminiscing while they show picture of the old black and white Hockey Night in Canada replays of the last time the Habs won a cup, oh wait, that the Laffs….oh no, Pactum and habs8 have morphed into Laff wannabee fans, complete with rewarding mediocrity with praise, as long as the GM and coach don’t make no winning moves. So they can all pretend to know which winning trade will help and how much money not to spend so we won’t be champions again….at this rate it’ll be the year 2093 before the Habs win a cup again. Oh gee, maybe we shoulda paid Markov more so we can guarantee losing Souray. And lets trade those rookies so we can get some more small midget Finnish players who skate great but can’t check worth a damn or get close enough to the net to actually shoot a quality shot. Or look the other way while those crappy defensemen are allowed to let the world’s greatest Rookie Goalie get murdered and go out on a stretcher out of the Bell Center, cause hey with the moves Gainey is making, that all but guarantees Price is gonna be destroyed cause hey all he’s gonna have is midget forwards and invisible defense and Markov with his trademark move of basically injuring his own goalie, it was Markov don’t forget that basically in a space of three games destroyed Huet, practically spending those three games knocking over his own goalie. We all have too short of a memory….Markov who’s great specialty is falling on his own goalie or knocking the biggest forwards into his own goalie. And I used to think Souray was bad for that, but it took Markov hurting Huet for Souray to change his ways. Did Markov change? No, he destroyed Halak’s debut, even Don Cherry caught Markov’s lack of defending his own goalie!
June 2nd, 2007 at 3:30 am
Hey JOshtm, you mom makes great pink lemonade. SHe tells me you have not left the basement for 3 months. Whats going on? Are you depressed about the Latendresse played in the last game? Its okay man he will get better, sma ewith Lapierre. SUre they made alot of rookie mistakes this year but they were rookies. How is the job hunt going? Your mom and I agree that maybe getting a PT job would be best for you at this point.
June 2nd, 2007 at 7:04 am
“MMMM this is great pink lemonade Mrs Joshtm, but do you really have to make it without a top on”?
June 2nd, 2007 at 7:45 am
I thought it she made it with her bottoms off, to give it that distinked (sic) pink color.
June 2nd, 2007 at 8:19 am
SHe does, but I left that part out to save JOsh some embarassment. OH well.
June 2nd, 2007 at 9:37 am
Come on guys lets be nice to joshtm.I wouldnt want him to stop posting on this site.I dont know about you guys but i love when he repeats himself over and over and over and over.I cant get enough.He should start his own blog called “I AM OFF MY MEDS.COM” I wish i could be like joshtm,no job,no girlfriend,no father obviously,no life all this poor guy has is lefty and righty which ever hand he feels more comfortable with on that day.There is a tear in my beer for you joshtm a tear in my beer.
June 2nd, 2007 at 1:09 pm
well, since JoshTM dragged me into this… I can only assume that Josh is a child. Do you see what Gainey brought to Dallas? It’s called a 1999 Stanley Cup. Maybe you aren’t old enough to remember the last time we held one. But then again, apparently you know better than everyone else… apparently.
June 2nd, 2007 at 3:08 pm
And do you fail to see what Gainey has brought to Montreal? HMMM… Samsonov, Ninnima, Johnson, the dispute with Kovalev and Koivu, the praise of lousy defensemen like Bouillon and Dandenault (Gainey is too cheap and spends big bucks in all the wrong places!) wasted the opportunity to take advantage of and recognize rookies…and now Lahti is just another Koivu waiting to destroy what ever offensive momentum that we may scratch and claw with the benefit of bringing up rookies, only to send them back down and have Lahti and Koivu blow whatever gain we make next year, it’s like the old climb three steps, take four steps back! Then the old Russell falling down contest between Johnson and Russell to see who can outdo each other on Kamikazi one man-team idealogy only to have them end up on their backs and giving the puck away so that the other teams can score on Dandenault while Markov takes out Huet!
That is what Gainey has brought! And leave all this “he rebuilt Dallas” ****!
This is not Dallas, he is not making those great moves like he did in Dallas. Instead he handicaps himself here with stupid deals!
June 2nd, 2007 at 3:33 pm
bla bla bla bla bla Stick a cork in it loser
June 2nd, 2007 at 5:19 pm
Why is Markov all of a sudden off the hook? Just because Gainey wants to save money and basically nickle and dime the Habs to death so he can favour a few at the expense of the many? It is the same team as last year, with what, two more small forwards the signing of yet another small rookie, and what, getting rid of one of our most powerful strong defenseman ever, all of a sudden is going to make a cup contender?
What are you all so stupid? Don’t you see Pronger basically shut down Ottawa? That is the future. A bunch of small forwards and not solving the problem with our horrible defense? Are you all blind? And Gainey is a God for that?
June 2nd, 2007 at 7:02 pm
So you are saying souray is better than markov? God you are an idiot lol 4 REAL
June 2nd, 2007 at 7:08 pm
Every time the Habs have ever gotten into the playoffs or did reasonably well in them, they had size to get them there. I have never seen a successful finish to a season where a team was entirely as small in size as the Habs are. Even our so called larger players play like limp noodles.
We have enough small talented players now, what is the use of using up what little space there is to fill out the roster with more small players?
Either get rid of the larger players like Johnson, and replace them with decent muscle. I know that Gainey wants to have the F1 of hockey players, fast skaters, but as we all know, they the fast skaters have a tendency to also be fastly checked into the boards.
No, we need balance and this is not what the habs have. We pay too many limp noodles, thinking just because they have size and weight that this will stop the Prongers, Chara’s of the league.
And we all know how Markov was shut down each time by Chara. It took Souray to stop Chara with muscle.
We need size to protect our up and coming rookie goalies, who are among the best in the world now. Dandenault, Bouillon and Markov are not that, all they do is stand around, or worse yet they hurt their own goalie, either by falling on them or pushing players onto them, instead of away.
Signing Souray will ensure that we at least have one line that could protect the goalie. Not signing Souray means we will lose the enforcer, the only enforcer on the team. The rookies are earnest and willing but they are not exactly enforcers, too small, to skinny and not nasty enough.
That is why I had hope when Laraques was willing and waiting for Gainey to call, that he would beef up our defense. But no, Gainey got Gorges, who is another small player.
What is with Gainey and his small players? That is not the way to go! That is not building the team. What, build them small around little Koivu? That is a guaranteed butt kicking 80 games a year! Watch the Habs get pushed around, and another year of the roller coaster. Unless the Rookies really shine and dig Koivu out of the pothole Koivu always gets himself into. But I have a feeling with Gainey going small and smaller, that even great Rookies like Locke, Grabby ain’t gonna dig us out if they are only on one line out of four.
Yup, three lines against the habs (Dandy, Russell, Johnson, Ninny, Bouillon and whatver combination) vs the rookies who will help with scoring, only to have the other three lines basically give away the puck and the lead. What kind of planning is that? You can tell Gainey does not want to win, he just wants to concentrate on building a rookie team.
It’s time the Gilletts and their investors hire a real GM who will concentrate on seeing an NHL team win. What good does a Calder Cup do for Montreal? Its great for the City of Hamilton. But I thought Gillett bought the Habs, not the dogs alone. Unless you send Carbo down to Hamilton and watch him waste rookies away there like he does in Montreal, and bring up the Hamilton coach to help us win, and get rid of Gainey, bring us a Real GM!
June 2nd, 2007 at 7:18 pm
HA HA HA. I’m sorry, did you just compare Souray to Pronger? Am I watching the same playoffs because I haven’t seen Pronger get danced around by every single Senator.
PS: Pronger was + 27 in the regular season and is +9 in the playoffs. I’ll give you the Souray has a fantastic shot blah blah blah but please… it’s a MINUS 28 he’s got not a PLUS 28.
and as for Markov being off the hook… ask any sports analyst in hockey, he’s top five in D-men in the NHL right now. I can’t argue with a kid… Where’s the pink lemonade guy… Pepto, take it from here please. thanks.
June 2nd, 2007 at 9:34 pm
Congrats Joshtm:
You finally came up with a new poitnt. I had enough of those posts about the misuse of rookies. Joshtm, can yo please f-u-c-k-i-n enjoy the
m-o-t-h-e-r f-u-k-i-n team??? Leave this website. Stop posting in this blog if yuu hate the team with passion. Come up under another name, or even under your anem, and start bashing at Habs’ and the management. The team sucks…the staff sucks…the management sucks…the media sucks…IF EVERYTHING SUCKS, THEN WHY ARE YOU WATCHING THEM PLAY???? Don;t you have anything else to doo in you life?
Get a life…
June 2nd, 2007 at 11:06 pm
Hey Jack Tornton,
Maybe if our undersized Habs team wasn’t such a joke since 1993 you wouldn’t hear the cries of fustration on some of the fans ,who parcipatate on Habs blog!Now if our Habs were a great or good team you mite have a point or two,but as it stands,WE SUCK AND WE LOST TO T.O. IN THE LAST GAME OF THE YEAR FOR A PLAYOFF SPOT !!! AND I’M SICK OF THE LOOSING TOO!!!YOU CAN NEVER BRAINWASH THAT OUT OF ME EITHER!!! I DEMAND BIG BIG CHANGES AND WITH MUCH BIGGER HOCKEY PLAYERS…AKA DUCKS AND SENS!!!! I AM ONE OF THE BIGGEST FANS OF THE HABS SO I WILL NEVER SETTLE FOR THIS MEADEOCRCY B U L L C R A P THAT’S BEEN SERVED UP WAY ,WAY TO LONG!!!!!!
June 2nd, 2007 at 11:29 pm
is Xhabsfan = Joshtm?
I heart habs. go habs go. pink lemonade joke made me laugh.
somebody find joshtm a part time job. maybe we can make him GM. he’s so intelligent.
June 2nd, 2007 at 11:58 pm
Well Higgins turned 24 today!!. ANd according to JOsh’s rules he is now too old for the Habs. WE MUST trade him. I know he will be a star but JOsh wants him out.
June 3rd, 2007 at 12:20 am
I agree with Josh on this one we are definately to small, i wouldn’t even say small i’d call it soft. if we ever want to go far into the playoffs we’ll have get a few more physical players. I don’t dislike guys like Bonk and Johnson, but they aren’t physical enough for my liking. 3rd line checkers should should be hitting and checking not just checking.
June 3rd, 2007 at 1:32 am
LJ55;
I think Ian Laperierre would be a good fit on the 3rd. Easier said then done of course. As for Briere it seems like everyone is linking him to MOntreal except for the habs brass. THe have not made a definite decision to make a run at him. ALso Souray talks will continue this week which is a good sign that he has interest in coming back. ALthough it diesnt help to have the HNIC crew say 4.5 is far to low of a offer.
ONe thing that hurt the habs down the stretch was the reductino of physical play. Latendresse seemed to think he was a star and did not play as physical as the year went on. IF he does not play hard he will never be helpful to the HABS.
June 3rd, 2007 at 1:42 am
When I said Briere is not a definite target yet what i meant was teh Habs will be looking at all options before throwing 7 million for a 65 pt player. 65pts is the amount he would get on our team. THey will continue to investigate the possibility of LEcavalier becoming available. WHen that does not happen Marleau is another and probably the most logical. MP BOuchard is one player that is also mentioned but would not be a first choice.
Apparently teams are more interested in the younger Kost then the older. Previous medical reason is the key there. Price is becoming a target for obvious reasons.
June 3rd, 2007 at 1:51 pm
I could see if giving up Souray was done for a bigger more physical defenseman. But how many are out there in the market?
Or the other option of acknowledging that we are all soft on defense is a strong offense. But Ninnima and Samsonov were supposed to be the answer before and people should not forget that Gainey said a strong defense is a strong offense. So unfortunately we have been proven wrong.
So what Montreal needs is stronger defensemen. Who can also protect our prima donna china doll forwards who are nothing but limp noodles. Like as if Lahti can pull his own weight, or Russell.
And with Markov all but playing forward, where does that leave the defense? Since when has Markov ever really stopped a rush? Or stood in front of the net to stop a shot? All he is good for is pushing players into his own goalie or worse yet falling on his own goalie like the time he hurt Huet.
No we need real defensemen, like Pronger. And for all those people who **** on “rent-a-players” it was Pronger that pushed them over the top and helped them get a play off spot.
Gainey has lost it, maybe it is time to bring on Robinson, after all Lou ain’t gonna give him another chance. Robinson knows the value of might over speed. The New NHL is not speed. Gainey gambled and lost. The New NHL is all about grinding it out in front of the other guy’s goalie. Whoever has the strongest defense will win the day.
How many games of watching Koivu or Johnson get knocked down do you need? Or replay Chara grind down and basically eat up the habs, and the result, the team was too worn down to fight back in the rest of the final games.
So far the names being thrown around all all small players.
Koivu and Gainey were wrong. The Habs need to rebuild, from the defense up. A solid defensive core will mean that your forwards can concentrate on scoring. Recognizing the skill of rookies is another. Reward them with full time spots, not the continual reward of a kick back to the dogs if you do well. What kind of incentive is that?
June 3rd, 2007 at 1:57 pm
I agree 100% with you pepto ian laperierre would be a great fit for the habs.I would also love to see gainey swing a deal with atlanta and get garrnet excelby for our defence.We really need to get tougher.You really need some warriors on your team to go deep into the playoffs.Breire would not be a good fit here i would rather have ryan smyth or even gomez.As for souray i would give him 5 million and even that is pushing it. Not a penny more.
June 3rd, 2007 at 3:36 pm
CHara never dominated the habs this year. IF fact we ate him alive. WE are too quick for him and Bruin fans know this.
June 3rd, 2007 at 3:39 pm
The board of govenors lost the battle with cleaning up the NHL. You will always have the Prongers, the Neils, the Charas, all who play by their own rules.
The NHL is grinding back to the nasty dirty NHL of old. Gainey was supposed to be the answer to the New NHL, even TSN touted him as the example of the New NHL coach who would take advantage of the easier softer NHL that would see smaller-size teams win, while those teams with Goons would go the way of th dinosaur.
Well, the 2007 NHL stanley cup series showed that the old NHL is back with a vegenance. Every few games you had a head hunter like Pronger destroy the other teams. Look at the Sharks and their supposed easy road to the cup, all it took was Cheechoo to get basically ripped apart, or heck pick any other cup contender out there that was put aside, and voila, almost every team that was eliminated so far had their stars basically go out on stretchers.
This is the New NHL. This is the future. I think all of you who think Gainey is God by drafting small players who skate fast but fall down good and who get hooking penalties, heck if that is your kind of player, ALA Koivu-style, then hey, by all means praise that. But history this past year shows as it has in years past, Koivu’s hooking penalties kind of destroy momentum, especially when he gets so many so often and at the worst times.
Unless you have a solution to the Prongers, then hey, there is no way you are gonna win games unless you have a solid offense that can deliver and a defense that can fight back.
Unfortunately Koivu and Kovalev are not fast enough to evade the Charas and Prongers, and I doubt Lahti will last a season of being pummeled and head hunted. And I doubt Russell will survive either if he keeps up with his minor penalty binges that he is famous for, another Koivu in the wings.
Great, that is the 1-2-3-4 knockout, Koivu-Lahti Hooks to Dandenault and Bouillons apathetic defense, and the killer - Markov’s arrogant defense, or lack of defense.
June 3rd, 2007 at 4:03 pm
Any more Gainey-like moves and we’ll have to petition the NHL board of Govenors to change the Habs name to the Montreal Midget Mites! Or maybe we can ask George Gillett to trade with the Pred’s new owner to be, to change teams, move Gainey and his shop to Nashville and bring us the Preds, just trade the names. What do you think of that? Maybe that is the only way we’ll get a cup back to Montreal, at Gainey’s rate, it’ll be the year 2093 before Gainey wins a cup.
June 3rd, 2007 at 4:20 pm
Oh gee I guess we kinda forget that Chara kinda sidelined both Dandenault and Bouillon early in the year, and was also responsible for Koivu’s elbow….oh how quick we forget. Sure we skated rings around Chara but not before he basically wore everyone out on the boards. Why do you think the Habs were no match for even the worst of the worst? Like the Laffs and the Phlyers? Chara. And of course there was no response to the ****-kicking at the hands of Antropov either. I don’t know, I think some are wearing their rose-colored glasses too close or too deep in denial and have morphed into the 100 year denial that laff fans are famous for….
June 3rd, 2007 at 5:46 pm
What about souray being danced around nigtly you never say anything bad about souray joshtm.You must have some secret crush on him lol.Oh by the way pronger was suspended AGAIN today so tell me how that helps a team? You are clueless little boy.
June 3rd, 2007 at 6:04 pm
You know what is clueless? Thinking small European forwards will be the answer to the habs. Guess what our present bunch of small European forwards did not exactly give us a great season. Are you a pervert Pactum? Why don’t you just come out of the closet and confess your love for Markov? HAHAHAHA!!!!
June 3rd, 2007 at 6:31 pm
Good come back freak.Why dont you do us all a favour and get hit by a bus loser lol.You seem to have an obsession with big burly men.I bet you have boobs tattooed on your back freak show.Hey joshtm isnt time to go feed those women you have locked down in you basement buffalo bill.It places the lotion in the basket.Slimeball.
June 3rd, 2007 at 9:31 pm
I guess Pactum seems to forget the after christmas slump that a small Finnish player got us into, and that a few European forwards and defensemen for all their crying to the media couldn’t either. It took bringing up some rookies with a bit of brawn and muscle to claw us out. Only to have that same small Finnish freak basically throw away the season one last time. Geeze Pactum, and I thought you were a bona fide fan of hockey. If there is any freak out there it is you and your obsession with ***. Geeze Pactum, find a cheap hooker won’t you, do us all a favour and get laid.
Leave the blog for real fans of hockey who know what it is really like out there. Not some fantasy about how a bunch of small forwards are gonna save us. It didn’t work for the Penguins, nor for the Preds, and most of all for Vancouver.
Nope, to win you need size, you need strength and you need healthy players, not broken down veterans who are not wanted by any other team. Or small rookies who will only be snatched up by smaller market grapefruit leagues.
In all the years Montreal won the cup they had size, they had strength and they had healthy players. What you want Pactum is small (maybe you are also) speed (oh gee too bad) and worn down rookies.
If we follow you we are in for another disappointing season. Where it looks nice and neat early on when Crazy Bob allows the rookies to come up, and then thrown away by the small forwards and defense, while Souray scores on us in his Ducks uniform……
June 3rd, 2007 at 10:00 pm
Have you ever talked to a girl without having to give your credit card number joshtm? Nobody cares what you have to say buddy.We all know your a leaf fan anyways loser.Again you repeat the same **** over and over.Everyone hates you here cant you see that? lol.I am pretty sure your own family hates you too.Christ your family tree doesnt branch off.I bet you were really upset when you found out sheldon souray got back together with his wife buffalo bill lol.You cried yourself to sleep that night didnt you.Anyways you should get to bed you have a busy day tomorrow trying on mommys clothes and jewelery and perfume and to top off your day you probably tuck your ****** back between your legs and run around he house naked like you always do HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH Cya buffalo bill. LOSER HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH
June 3rd, 2007 at 10:04 pm
GO HABS GO GO SAKU GO GO BOULLY GO GO DANDY GO GO JOHNSON GO GO CARBO GO GO GAINEY GO
June 3rd, 2007 at 10:08 pm
Now watch everyone this is where joshtm comes back and writes junk about small euro players,sakus hooking penalties,how much he hates dandy and boully,johnson always falling down,markov knocking over goalies,carbo sucks and crazy bob.What a pee brain HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
June 3rd, 2007 at 10:11 pm
pea brain***
June 3rd, 2007 at 11:36 pm
Lahti is the product of Gainey’s mentality. Koivu takes alot of hooking penalties. Bouillon and Dandy are bad defencemen. Koivu takes alot of bad penalties. Souray deserves the league max. CHara is a fine specimen. My basement smells like feet. Russell will be dominated in the corners. Johnson is weak. I smell like feet.
June 4th, 2007 at 12:03 am
Oh Pactum you were caught with your pants down buddy, what your credit card number bounced again? Taking it all out on us buddy?
Anytime Pactum is caught being in the wrong, he goes on a rampage. Geeze Pactum kinda forgot ESPN, TSN, the worlds media kinda pointing to Pronger as the key to the Duck’s success in spite of his suspensions. Keep living in Denial Pronger it does you good.
Or how everyone in Montreal is pissed at Gainey for not making good moves at trade deadline,where were you Pactum, stuck in your basement buddy? HMM…..oh whew what is that smell? Must be Pactum puking his guts out with realizing just how wrong he is for thing Gainey is God.
Get with it Pactum and realize if you have small hockey players playing against bigger guys, guess what they are going down….oh wait, Pactum still is in denial with being basically checked hard that one time too many by the big goon eh Pactum, wet noodle…..since when has Sakku ever beaten any bigger forwards? Or since when has Markov ever stood up to the likes of Antropov et al?
Montreal needs winners, but unfortunately it is being led by losers like Gainey with brown nosing fans of Gainey like Pactum…what Pactum you love the smell of **** so much you rented a sewer apartment?
June 4th, 2007 at 12:43 am
I guess Josh was a huge fan of Turner Stevenson!
June 4th, 2007 at 1:31 am
IF JOSH WAS GM:
1st line: Turner Stevenson, Brett Lindros, Wade Belak
2nd line: Nik Antropov, Perry Berezan, Gino Cavallini
3rd line: Randy McKay, Maxim Lapierre, Guy Latendresse
4th line: Lyndan Byers, Tony Twist, Jay Caufield
Defence: Sergei Bautin, Randy Ladouceur, Ken Baumgartner, Igor Ulanov, Peter Popovic, Lee Norwood
Goalies, Garth Snow, Jim Carey
SUre this team is big and powerful but now sure where the speed would come from. Definetely not Lats.
June 4th, 2007 at 6:48 am
That’s quite the all-star team, Higgy21…I’ll say one thing for Joshtm–the # of comments on this topic is higher than it’s been for a while. Even if it’s just people haranguing him, he’s got us talking.
Notice you didn’t mention Komisarek in your rants, Joshtm. He only led our team in hits, and despite his huge frame, he’s got some speed. In Hamilton, he was our go to pp point guy, and if he continues to be paired with the smooth skating Markov, he’ll only get better. The Habs problem isn’t just lack of size, it’s too many Euros with no size, let alone heart.
Dandenault should go, IMO, but after some hand-wringing, I say keep Boullion. His scraps with Tucker (a win, and incidentally enough, my desktop background!) and man-up vs that puke Tkchoke (a loss, but he did try) show he’s got heart to go with his speed and desire to hit guys. Chicken-soup-midget is a guy I’ve been picking on for years, but until we get someone better, he’ll have to do…
June 4th, 2007 at 8:02 am
Hey Joshtm or should we all call you buffalo bill.Here is a clip for you. Can you tell who’s jocksrap is laying on the ice? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy0pXTnx85Q
June 4th, 2007 at 9:02 am
Hey guys i just found a clip of Joshtm also known as buffalo bill and his past time activities.What a freak.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x81F28kPXuo&mode=related&search=
June 4th, 2007 at 9:04 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x81F28kPXuo
June 4th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
JOshtm description:
13 years and 3 quarters old
- freakly
- homeschooled
- loves pink lemonade
- very sensitive
- loves space camp
June 4th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
Guys, I think we should all be a little nicer to joshtm. He is clearly one of the “special” people we all see in our day to day lives. I guess his mother left him alone at the computer for a while longer than usual, and the unfortunate result is that we are all forced to deal with his verbal diarrhea. I use this term because the **** coming out of his mouth is about as useful to us as the **** his lemonade making mother has to wipe of his butt.
June 4th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
lol