OH OH!!………I feel a shut out comin’ on…..scary….besides defence…what forward could Montreal sign????? I guess we can hope that San Jose signs Drury and trades Marleau to Montreal!!!
The fans and media in Montreal are to blame for this whole mess!!!! They need to keep their passion but still remember that it is just a game afterall!!
They are scaring away the top talent!!!!
If hometown boy Briere won’t sign then that in itself says alot!!
No one wants to come play for the habs. I am a big habs fan but i think we will only get 2nd of 3rd rate players because of the way they the media is there. Sad to say it but you know it is true, The only hope we have is the kids they have in the system
Flyers sign Briere to an 8 year deal, not that I’m overly sad about that, he was a wrong fit for Montreal, Jason Blake goes to the Leafs, Lupul (while not major news is still a good player) goes to the Flyers, Rangers sign Gomez and Drury (now those would have been nice in Montreal), Hanan signs with Avs, Ducks sign Schneider…. With no one else worth going after, maybe we have a shot at Smyth after all!
Wow,Ijust got back from work and no moves by Gainey, @%*$#%!!! that’s absolute bullshit.Hey Bob,hello , we didn’t make the playoffs ,lost to T.O. LAST GAME for a playoff spot,went on another massive loosing streak and the ticket prices are up ,you madman,W.T.F.???? NOW I know you’ve lost it Bob!!!!I STILL LOVE YOU FOR THE PAST BUT YOU SUCK IN THE PRESENT BOB!!!!
I’m surprised Souray isn’t already signed somewhere…is there still some hope for a return to the Habs? (I don’t care about the -26, he’s a leader and exciting to watch, I’d like to see him back!)
Rumour is that Smyth will be signing with the Avalanche by tommorrow.
If Montreal fails to sign Souray then they will have been completely shut out of the frenzy!!
Sad!
I guess we have our choice between Yashin or Lang. Which will it be men??
Pathetic!!
I would not be surprised if by end of this month Koivu requests a trade. He said he is not interested in staying in Montreal if they are rebuilding and if they fail to sign any free agents of note then I would suggest they are rebuilding.
Pathectic to think that at one time, for so many years, Montreal was the place to be…now….not even a francophone wants to sign there!!
What in the hell will Bob do???? He certainly cannot sit tight? Obviously there are no big trades brewin’ or we would have had a sniff by now….what in the f-u-c-k will BOB do??
Before everyone starts screaming at Gainey… He made an offer to Briere, he made an offer to Souray… But he can’t *make* players sign with Montreal if they don’t want to… maybe the fans and the city and the media need to start looking at themselves as to *why* no one wants to play in Montreal… From what I’ve read the offer to Briere was for more money than what he signed for in Philly… So before everyone starts blaming Gainey maybe the city should start looking at itself.
Smyth has been offered a 6 yr 39 mil. contract by Montreal, apparently it is the larget offer he has and will receive. There are some questions as to whether or not he and his wife want to live in Montreal. If Smyth wants the big money, he will sign with Montreal.
Other rumour is Zubrus will be coming back to Montreal as their 3rd line centre. I ask, ” Why not just re-sign BONK?”
Also, reason that Souray has not been signed is because of his league worst +/-!! I guess teams think that for $5-$6 mil. you should be able to get a good all-around defenceman and Souray is not one of those!! Go figure that!!
He may have no choice but to sign with Montreal at 3-4.5 mil. per year. But don’t rule out San Jose…..Rivet is there and he and Souray are good buds. They also lost Hannan so they will need a replacement.
I still say Montreal should sign Allison for a mil . a year. Why not…situation cannot be any worse than it appears to be right now..
It’s official. Smyth goes to Colorado.
It has been reported on TSN, that Montreal offered MORE money to Gomez, Briere, AND Smyth and ALL of them took LESS money to play somewhere else. Pierre McGuire explained that Bob Gainey is trying hard, but no players want to play in Montreal because of the high taxes players pay in Quebec.
I really think that if we don’t get Sheldon for less money (no more than 4.5 a year) we have to seriously look at defenceman more than forwards. I think Danny Markov would be a good fit, as well as possibly Sydor ( a good veteran presence on the blue-line).
Now that all the ‘top’ UFA’s are more or less gone, I think we should nab Nylander OR Kariya WITH a defenceman.
I.e. Nylander and Sydor/Markov
OR
Kariya and Sydor/Markov
The Colorado Avalanche have won the Ryan Smyth sweepstakes, TFP has learned.
Four teams were heavily courting Smyth, including the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens and New York Islanders, but Smyth decided to sign with Colorado.
Smyth, who was offered more money from the Habs, agreed to a five-year, $31.25 million contract with the Avalanche.
Earlier in the day, as TFP reported, the Avalanche signed unrestricted free agent defenseman Scott Hannan to a four-year contract.
Smyth, 31, played in 71 games this past season with the Edmonton Oilers and Islanders, registering 36 goals and 32 assists for 68 points.
In 788 career regular-season games, Smyth has accumulated 270 goals, 294 assists and 621 penalty minutes. The Banff, Alberta native was originally drafted sixth-overall by the Oilers in the 1994 HL Entry Draft.
Hannan, 28, will earn $18 million over the length of his new deal.
In 79 goals with the San Jose Sharks last season, Hannan tallied four goals, 20 assits and 38 penalty minutes.
Hannan has played in 508 career NHL games, all with San Jose, and has accumulated 25 goals, 102 assists and 329 penalty minutes.
The native of Richmond, BC, was originally drafted by the Sharks in the first-round (23rd overall) in 1997.
Gainey tried his best to get the forwards today … players and their agents (especially the agents) hate montreal because of so many different reasons, the most prominent one being our high tax situation. That being said, montreal’s offers to both smyth and briere were higher than the deals they accepted, so wtf is bob supposed to do? 8-years??? common.
the best thing to do would be to get souray signed and lock up a third line center, unless chipchura is on the way up next season.
This blog should be Canadians 2007 LACK OF FREE AGENT ACTIVITY and we can not blame BOB. It is sad when a french born player does not want to be here thanks to the media..
All this talk about not being able to get a top UFA ? Sounds like i heard it before? Oh yea it was the same as last year at this time!!!!!1 year later and still no big names want ot come here because of the way the media in Montreal treats them..
well looks as if we are left high and dry once again,and i do agree its the negative media that scares away players from signing in montreal.I say sign RYDER,SOURAY,trade bonk andwhoever the hell else also nab YASHIN andLANG what the hell can’t do any worse than last year.
I think I’ve develop angina from all this. Let me get this right,we still have Kovalev?We are not doing nothing? Sounds to me like we lost all the bidding wars,THIS IS STUPID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CHL soon. We gonna have the Canadian Hockey League soon if things continu that way. Bettman doesn’t want any new team in Canada, or move any out there. And now, no key players sign for canadian teams, the only free agency player who signed with a canadian team is Blake with Toronto. It’s has to mean something. In the end we gonna have a poor canadian league with bad canadian players who will play for less money here, just like the CFL is to the NFL.
DON’T SIGN ANYONE.
We didn’t got Briere (didn’t think he would fit that good here) and we didn’t got Smyth.
Players want to play in a winning team, and montreal is not since we don’t have big key players. We get these by young guys in the draft, we are getting there but since we didn’t went enough low, we don’t get the big key players.
If we can’t get the high key players by UFA, just leave more space for our young kids, that’s the way to go. The other option is trade, but we have nothing to trade. May be in the Goalkeeper position, but we are not there yet, Halak price worth isn’t high enough to trade him for a high key player with others. If we exchange Koivu or Kovalev or Ryder or Higgens, then we gonna create a weekness to patch another one, wich is not good for now.
Give some kids the chance to play in the NHL and let’s see what happens a year from now. If koivu want to go out, trade him or show him that the other team doesn’t like him has much as we do.
1 Year reconstruction, I hate it but we can do it.
The Rangers, who already had Shanahan, Jagr, Straka and Prucha, suddenly add both Drury and Gomez. This means they now have 2 lines better than the first line in Montreal. Get some good players already..
yA’all wanna know why no players wanna come to mtl? Cause we ain’t got good enuff players to help make the stars shine! This “Gainey is God” comment, kind disproves itself, cause if he was a hockey God, we’d have Smyth, Gomez, etc already. Heck we’d have the Neidermeyers.
But no, we go Johnson, Dandenault and Bouillon, heck the answer to last year’s big rush was Garth Murray and Downie! What’s so Hockey God about keeping deadwood…and this excuse of it being a small market team, honest…
I have never heard so many excuses, heck we’d put the Canadian Down Hill Slalom team to shame with our excuses! We routinely blame the media, the taxman, heck next we’ll blame Celine Dion! Why not coz there’s not enuff chip wagons left in Mtl? Or hey cause the roof falls in at the O! Or cause hey the Americans bought our beer! What other excuses do we have?
Why not put the blame where it belongs? With management. Its the management who signs this deadwood! We have crappy players, and because of that, superstars don’t wanna come to Montreal. Plain simple. Look at the wild west, heck if crappy little Nashville with nothing, can bring big name players like Kariya, okay now he’s gone, but even if little Nashville can do it why can’t Montreal? The answer is, Nashville players play with heart. What does Montreal do? Adopt the City of Montreal’s road crew work ethic! Work hard at making potholes! Look at Kovalev and his russian mafia team complaining and griping….or heck those Europeans who don’t hit back….or those crappy Canadian players who waffle at the smallest check! Honestly!
It’s no wonder Gainey can’t sign players, cause the NHLPA knows Gainey has assembled a bad news bears equivalent of a hockey team!
Come on! This is not Gainey’s fault. here’s my proof:
Smyth didn’t come because his wife did not want to live in Montreal.
Briere’s boyfreind is starting goalie in philly.
Drury and Gomez went to the rangers because they have way more talent.
And Kariya went to the Blues because his brother Steve signed with them.
Oh, by the way, Selanne’s still availible so Koivu could bring him here.
We need another center and 2 defence (1 if Souray stays) so…A) Neylander is now the man, the best thats left and a Swede so he might not mind coming to Montreal. No I don’t believe we will get him but its nice to dream. B) Frankly I don’t mind taking Yashin if he’s cheap, and if we only keep him for 2 years. Lets face it the thing we are all waiting for is Lecalvaliers contract to come up in 2 years, if we get him then we have 2 marquee players (him and Price) and then stuff might start to look good again. C) Chipchura will replace Alex P.
As for defense…we are screwed.
Disappointing, but not terribly surprising beginning to Mtl’s UFA efforts. I was hoping for something that I was reasonably certain would never happen, I suppose. Looking at some of these contracts, and the terms of said contracts, makes me almost happy we didn’t sign some of these guys.
Gomez has scored more than 19 goals once, in 2005-6, when he got 33, and he’s coming off of a 13 goal, 60 point campaign. Yet he gets $10 million next year, and recieved the largest per year of all the UFAs so far. For that kind of money, I want a 50 or 60 goal scorer, not a guy who has scored less than 20 6 out of 7 seasons. Add in the fact that he’s soft as cotton, and who needs him?
Briere was quoted as saying that he likes the direction that Philly is going in, and that’s why he signed there. I have to say that I would too, if I just got a 8 year, 52 million dollar contract from anyone–it’s a direction that leads straight to the bank account. I’m sure we could all appreciate that…
Others got overpaid as well, or got more years than is credible. IMO. So I say, yes, we needed to sign someone, but not at any price. If we’d paid Gomez that kind of money, I’d be even more unhappy than I am about the team’s failure to get something done.
With many of the Easts’ other teams upgrading, it could be a hard year for us Hab fans this coming season.
You just don’t get it do you? It’s like when you were first learning how to budget. This is no different. You only get so much moola to play with. Unfortunately for Montreal Gainey has wasted Montreal’s budget on ****. Now he has no room to manouver. When you overpay Dandenault and Bouillon to begin with, and keep deadwood like Johnson and Ninnima and way-overpay them…then you can’t play with the big boys!
Josh what are you talking about? The Habs only have just over 30 million tied up right now, and the cap is at 50 million next year. Niinimaa is unrestricted, as is Johnson(who didn’t make much to begin with) as is Bonk as is Aebischer. They have plenty of money available.
They said on TSN that Montreal offered big contracts to both Briere and Smyth. Players just don’t want to come to Montreal to deal with the constant bull****.
Ah, I wondered how long it would be before Josh chimed in with his opinion. Still as worthless as always. Yes, let’s blame Gainey and management when maybe players don’t want to play in a french city and have to learn a whole new language. Even when Carbs was an assitant coach here I heard the rumour that he was unable to put his daughter into an english school. Maybe Smyth and everyone else who decided not to sign here didn’t want to go through the hassles. But, it’s all a bunch of maybes. No one knows for sure, it’s all guess work.
The point is that this year, no one wanted to sign with Montreal. Maybe we get Souray back, maybe not. Maybe we get Bonk and Johnson back, maybe not. If we do we have basically the same team as last year. We’re not making a run at the cup, it’s time to trade and rebuild.
It kinda shows that Gainey is out of his league now. Maybe he had management do things for him in Minnesota. And all of a sudden, we see Gainey for what he is. A cheap son of a ****** who can’t spot veteran talent if his life depended on it. And he takes credit for the hard work of his scouts! It’s time to boot Gainey out! Give Trevor Timmins the boot too! He’s an insecure scout who doesn’t scout anyone who is too much bigger than he is…and maybe Gainey’s on the same insecure kick too! The reality is in this the new old NHL, size beats speed anytime! You may skate rings around Chara and Antropov and even little Straka, but hey, they are gonna wind you down over the rest of the game….
We need a real hockey team with real NHL players. Not this sad bunch! Granted some of the rookies are great, but hey you need an all around team!
Avatar doesn’t get it do you Avatar? You ain’t never gonna get superstars if you scout small fry and broken down alcoholics as the backup! Like as if Smyth wants Johnson puking all over him during breaks, or worse yet have Markov fall on him when he tries to defend the goalie! Or watch the other team skate circles around the defense of Dandenault and Bouillon!
No wonder we can’t get players here, its not the racism ****, its not all the other stuff either. If we take your excuse then what the hell is Carbo doing here then?
Or any other player for that matter? Maybe if its so bad Montreal should shut the habs down then! HUH????? Don’t you know how stupid you sound?
Its all about the crappy players Montreal seems to have gotten under past two or three GMs….its gone downhill.
who said that no free agents want to come here….”WHERE DID THAT COME FROM because the team 990 said it and everyone believes it”
who cares we didn`t get Briere all 5′-10″ of him seriously another small centerman…10 million the first year give me a break Philly is just stupid
Ryan Smith yeah that one was a sad one to let go but hey those are the breaks get over it. Gainey only went after 2 free agents that`s it…and so what they didn`t sign I am all about the guys in the minors now they are hungry and want to be part of this team…
so Joshtm go find yourself a nice women and take her out on date and just maybe just maybe she wil let you kiss her….LOSER FOR LIFE
I`m so tired of reading your **** and this blog…..
It’s been a long time since I posted a comment, but reading some of the swivel written against Gainey, I had to take a moment.
1. Bob is probably just as p’d off as many of us. By all accounts he’s been making huge offers to people like Briere and Smyth, to no avail. Whether the other team has a better direction, the wives are worried about the city, or whatever, we’ve said this before, but UFAs are just not that interested in Mtl. That’s why we got Sammy last year: no one else wanted him. I think Bob learned a lot from that experience.
2. The trade route is the way to go, we said it last year, the same goes for now.
3. The team is definately looking great!!! Lots of fantastic rookies and sophs who will make this team a winner in the medium term.
4. We need 1-2 of those wily veterans within the next 6-12 months to win the Cup in 2 years, which seems to be the building goal since a couple of years already. As proven these years, the only way will be through a trade… I see Vinny, Marleau and others in the picture.
Long story short, grow up!! Those of you who wake up cynical and then drink a raw lemon for breakfast should cool off and remember the realities of hockey in Montreal since the past 20 years. We’ll never be able to buy a Cup like the southern US teams (or maybe the Rangers this year… whoa!), but we will be able to build one. That’s what Bob is doing … and noting the talent on the team already, he’s on his way.
As I sit here watching all the notable UFAS slip through our fingertips, I can’t help but think… never mind the big name players who have signed already, and collaborate that Montreal is not the most appealing city to play in, we don’t have a single player signed from the UFA pool yet!!!!!!!!!!! Not One!!!! I really do hope that Shelly chooses to stay where he belongs, but the clock is ticking. I said this before, but at this point, why not two guys like Danny Markov, and Slava Kozlov? All I’m saying is that both of these guys are affordable, and veteran players. With Rafalski in Detroit now, I believe that Markov would be expendable, and Slava is a very creative forward who could help Kovy. He’s a very accurate passer, and has a great shot. Markov is a rock on the blue line! This is just food for thought, but if Le Bleau Blanc Rouge don’t do something soon, they could very easily be cellar dwellers by X-mas! Go Habs Go! (Make a move soon… you have no choice.)
Will there ever be light at the end of the tunnel.i try to convince myself Bob did his best to bring in ufas.They keep on saying montreal is not desirable taxes,language and media pressure.IS this the new NHL.There isn’t a level playing field money talks as we see long term cotracts with no trade clauses.these guys go the best of worlds.the nhl should look into a system like the draft to give a fair chance to all teams to get these top players. i just hope BOB does sign some players that will help till the yougsters down on the farm and drafts picks can make up to the big team.
who cares about ufa’s anyhow, you have to overpay and i haven’t seen any team have great success by builing a club with ufa’s. i don’t recall any ufa aquistions that put a team over the top. do you?
i don’t understand why people have to act like a bunch of spoiled 5 year olds who didn’t get the toy they wanted this time of the year every year. we thought guys like Brad Richards were overpaid only 3 weeks ago, suddenly it doesn’t look that way anymore. i mean guys who have a career high of 70 points getting 7 million dollars? let these foolish gm’s spend like a bunch of drunken sailors on shore leave. if the canadian dollar starts to go down again don’t expect the cap to go up anymore. now that would be funny seeing the cap go down and all these teams try to sqirm out of these 5-8 year deals which have NMC’s.
all that being said we better not settle for the leftovers, i’d rather starve.
Selanne’s still available and he want’s to go to the habs.
P.S. Bertuzzi,Forsberg,and Yashin want to come.
Selanne says he’ll take 32 million for 12 years or 12 million for 6 years, and he would give koivu and (hopefully) Kovalev a big boost. And that would make Koivu a 35 goal scorer and a 95 point getter. Selanne would 50-65 goal scorer and 115-125 point getter. oh, Selanne would also be a replacement for Souray on the powerplay 35 goals on the man-advantage. And instead of Kovalev, Ryder and higgins would be 40(ryder), and 30(higgins) goal scorers. Higgins would have 60 pionts Ryder would have 75! That’s the difference one player can make. As for Kovalev…he would have about 62 points 20 goals so if they sign Selanne
they should keep kovalev until the deadline and if worth it longer.So come on Gainey! Sign Selanne!Go habs Go!Go habs Go! And sign souray somehow!!(If you have money!!)
Bertuzzi,Forsberg,and Yashin want to come.
Selanne says he’ll take 32 million for 12 years or 12 million for 6 years, and he would give koivu and (hopefully) Kovalev a big boost. And that would make Koivu a 35 goal scorer and a 95 point getter. Selanne would 50-65 goal scorer and 115-125 point getter. oh, Selanne would also be a replacement for Souray on the powerplay 35 goals on the man-advantage. And instead of Kovalev, Ryder and higgins would be 40(ryder), and 30(higgins) goal scorers. Higgins would have 60 pionts Ryder would have 75! That’s the difference one player can make. As for Kovalev…he would have about 62 points 20 goals so if they sign Selanne
they should keep kovalev until the deadline and if worth it longer.So come on Gainey! Sign Selanne!Go habs Go!Go habs Go! And sign souray somehow!!(If you have money!!)
Bertuzzi,Forsberg,and Yashin want to come.
Selanne says he’ll take 32 million for 12 years or 12 million for 6 years, and he would give koivu and (hopefully) Kovalev a big boost. And that would make Koivu a 35 goal scorer and a 95 point getter. Selanne would 50-65 goal scorer and 115-125 point getter. oh, Selanne would also be a replacement for Souray on the powerplay 35 goals on the man-advantage. And instead of Kovalev, Ryder and higgins would be 40(ryder), and 30(higgins) goal scorers. Higgins would have 60 pionts Ryder would have 75! That’s the difference one player can make. As for Kovalev…he would have about 62 points 20 goals so if they sign Selanne
they should keep kovalev until the deadline and if worth it longer.So come on Gainey! Sign Selanne!Go habs Go!Go habs Go! And sign souray somehow!!(If you have money!!)
You know what guys? Who cares if briere signed in philly he is way to small anyways and would not get more than 70 points in montreal anyways.Who cares if smyth signed with colorado his wife must wear the pants in that family its plain to see.(p u s s y wipped)Why is everyone so upset over not being able to sign these overpaid gold diggers.Just take a look at the final year of brieres,smyths contract,would you want to pay them 6.5 million at the age of 37 lol.That is just plain stupid and dont kid yourself everyear there is always a free agent BUST so one of these teams is gonna be stuck with a very big contract to deal with.As far as i am concerned if players dont want to play in montreal then we dont ******* i n g want you wearing the red,white and blue.Just have a little faith guys and be proud of our habs because one day we will be back on top and one day many players in the nhl will regret snubbing the montreal canadians. GO HABS GO p.s Gainey has somthing up his sleeve and we will all know what it is in the comming days.
Read this post on habs inside/out, it opened my eyes.
Pity the poor Habs! It’s so sad they treat prima donna Russian ice dancers so bad, word must be getting around that they run a slave ship in Montreal. Get Real!!! You want hell, try the Islanders? That’s New York brother, major market, solid tradition, loads of cash. And what do they have to show??? They traded away two top prospects and this yrs 1st for a rental player who just walked out the door, along w/ their top goal scorer, their #4 scorer, and their top defenseman. You want hell, try Buffalo a team where players had a “chance to win” then had both their co-captains walk. So much for commitment to team.How bout a 3-time Cup winner like New Jersey & their HOF goalie? They lost their top center and Top D-man. Now tell me any of those teams has the deep well of prospects that the Habs do. At worst we lose a -28 d-man. I’d hate to see him go, but…If you’d rather have $4 million in cap space tangled up in a 39 yr old Jason Blake like the Leafs will in a few yrs, go ahead and cry a river. I’m happy to be patient and wait to see what the kids do.
I believe in Price!!!
First of all, players don’t want to play in Montreal because of stu pid fans like josh and the ridiculous French media…
Second, I’m glad Gainey’s not overspending on Briere, Smyth, Drury and Gomez, those players aren’t superstars but are being paid by idiot teams like they are.
Hamrlik and Smolinski are fine tweaks, Lord knows we need help defensively… and maybe just maybe Saku can talk Teemu into signing here.
I would like the Habs to sign Danny Markov. I am not comfortable with Striet playing full-time defence. (Maybe we put him on the wing for the whole season and on the point for power plays.)
I would be okay with Johnson re-signing.
Yashin I am not comfortable with. As someone else mentioned make him earn his contract with incentives if we absolutely can’t get along without him.
Zubrus I am just okay with… I know and like many Russians, but they seem to only play when they want to. When they want to they are amazing. When they don’t they are shadows on skates.
Chris Simon might also be a lotto pick if he is available on the cheap. Simon could add some size/punch/character on the fourth line.
Question: Is Bill Guerin interested in Montreal ?
We have some cash lets spend it on free agents and keep the prospects in the barn. Marleau is good, but at what price if these rumours are true ?
Another that might fit for the cheap: Gelinas
O’Neill from the Toronto Make Believes could add scoring…or even Peca to take over Bonk’s spot.
I am a little disappointed that Montreal did not get Gomez, Briere, Drury or Ryan Smyth but Gainey did offer these players more money and they took less money to play elsewhere so we should not blame Gainey on this one. The Habs do have some good prospects on the way and they will win the cup in the next 3 or 4 years. They will be cup contenders before it is all said and done, just wait and see.
I can’t believe u guys thought Smyth was a habs canadidate. bros wake up, Smyth can tip in goals(that’s great) but we need a hockey player not a baseball player, I see him play hockey, he’s in slow motion and he doesn’t do too much. I would like Briere better but didn’t happen. I like the Hamrlik signing and the smolinski thingy, but It is not over.TSN said they had 31M before signing players, now after buying they probably have 38M THE CAP LIMIT IS 50 MILLIOM.12 Million to spend guys!
I can’t believe u guys thought Smyth was a habs canadidate. bros wake up, Smyth can tip in goals(that’s great) but we need a hockey player not a baseball player, I see him play hockey, he’s in slow motion and he doesn’t do too much. I would like Briere better but didn’t happen. I like the Hamrlik signing and the smolinski thingy, but It is not over.TSN said they had 31M before signing players, now after buying they probably have 38M THE CAP LIMIT IS 50 MILLIOM.12 Million to spend guys!
nilan : D'Agostini looked like an NHLer saturday night. Thats more than I can say for the last 2 seasons of latendresse. For what its worth, I think its too soon to talk trades- this is a WAY talented team, but only have a handful of guys playing with heart. Oh, and I like Komisarek on the ice better than behind the bench!
Habs Blog : flu kicked my ass
Mats Naslund : *the pros. These players just need to step it up. They did it last year.
Mats Naslund : I would agree that having Markov as the point shot on the PP has been a failure. He is much more effective as a set up man. The Habs could absolutely use the Souray and Streit type shot on the point (but they couldn't afford to keep those guys). It would be nice if someone from within could fill that spot, be it Tanguay, Lang or Andrei Kostitsyn or whoever. Sergei played that spot on the PP with Kane and Gagner in Junior and lit it up. I'm not sure if he has the velocity to make it happen in t
habs#1fan : All I was saying is that I myself believe we need those players (the centerman and the D-man) to help us now. I'm no expert by no means, am I wrong? Quite possibly. But that D-man would help our struggling PP. This team is deep in prospects which would make a deal easier to do. But yeah given the team's record so far maybe status quo would be best. GO HABS GO
Mats Naslund : I think this would be a terrible time to make a trade. We need to see these players handle this adversity. To get value you need to trade value, and right now its a buyers market in Montreal. If there are team needs closer to the playoffs then Gainey will have to make a move, but don't sell the farm in desperation.
habs#1fan : I know everyone is sick of hearing this including myself, however I do think the time to make a deal would be now. I don't know who is on the block but we still need another center and a PP D-man with a big shot. We have got a lot of good prospects, Max Pac, Chipchura, Maxwell, White, D'Agostini not to mention the junior and college players.
Senet1 : Well I understand your thinking groundworking, I guess I just choose to look at this team as a team that will build to the playoffs. I do not necessarily see us finishing first in the division but Carbo has to prepare them for the PO. I just hope that I am right!
groundworking : I hope you're right, Senet, and positive attitudes never hurt. I guess my problem is that I don't see the rough stretch in the win/loss column as the main concern, but also the lack of effort in many of the games that they won early--squeaking out wins against lesser opponents, often in shootouts, and without much help from the PP. The killer instinct and the "something to prove" edge that they had last year just hasn't seemed to be there, with two exceptions: a pre-season against Detroit
PACTUM SERVA : Dave morissette looks like a monkey lol.
Senet1 : With due respect groundworking, I think you are jumpi
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July 1, 2007 am31 12:47 pm
Awefully quiet out there folks……45 min. in and no signings???
Strange……………..
July 1, 2007 am31 1:38 pm
At least Smyth hasn’t signed with another team yet, so there’s always hope! hahahahaha… *sigh*
July 1, 2007 am31 2:05 pm
Avatar37…I agree Smyth would be a coupe signing for Montreal but I wouldn’t hold my breath for it!
I think you will see Ryan Smyth sign with the N.Y. Rangers.
Almost set that Drury signs with L.A…..I was thinking Briere would go to Montreal but I now fear that he will either sign with Philly or St. Louis!
I think Edmonton has a hell of a chance to get Gomez. He may sign there. Also the Oil may get Rafalski.
I get the feeling that Montreal may come out empty handed on this one??
Hope not!
July 1, 2007 am31 2:44 pm
Word is that the Habs have offered Briere a 6 year deal worth 42 Million.
July 1, 2007 am31 4:02 pm
Flyers sign Briere to 8-year deal
July 1, 2007 am31 5:03 pm
habs will pick up zubrus.. his wife is from montreal and they want to raise a family here
July 1, 2007 am31 5:05 pm
Dear MadmanPaddy,
Are you just guessing or do u have some kind of insider on smyth and drury? Just wanted to know
July 1, 2007 am31 5:50 pm
OH OH!!………I feel a shut out comin’ on…..scary….besides defence…what forward could Montreal sign????? I guess we can hope that San Jose signs Drury and trades Marleau to Montreal!!!
The fans and media in Montreal are to blame for this whole mess!!!! They need to keep their passion but still remember that it is just a game afterall!!
They are scaring away the top talent!!!!
If hometown boy Briere won’t sign then that in itself says alot!!
Montreal is in trouble!!!
July 1, 2007 am31 6:14 pm
i think montreal should get bertuzzi because once his back is beter he could help and if we dont sign him then smyth or shanahan
July 1, 2007 am31 7:52 pm
No one wants to come play for the habs. I am a big habs fan but i think we will only get 2nd of 3rd rate players because of the way they the media is there. Sad to say it but you know it is true, The only hope we have is the kids they have in the system
July 1, 2007 am31 7:57 pm
Now all but Smyth are gone ( may be signing in Col.) Looks like we will end up with Yashin or some one like that again this year !!!
July 1, 2007 am31 8:33 pm
Flyers sign Briere to an 8 year deal, not that I’m overly sad about that, he was a wrong fit for Montreal, Jason Blake goes to the Leafs, Lupul (while not major news is still a good player) goes to the Flyers, Rangers sign Gomez and Drury (now those would have been nice in Montreal), Hanan signs with Avs, Ducks sign Schneider…. With no one else worth going after, maybe we have a shot at Smyth after all!
July 1, 2007 am31 9:27 pm
Wow,Ijust got back from work and no moves by Gainey, @%*$#%!!! that’s absolute bullshit.Hey Bob,hello , we didn’t make the playoffs ,lost to T.O. LAST GAME for a playoff spot,went on another massive loosing streak and the ticket prices are up ,you madman,W.T.F.???? NOW I know you’ve lost it Bob!!!!I STILL LOVE YOU FOR THE PAST BUT YOU SUCK IN THE PRESENT BOB!!!!
July 1, 2007 am31 9:36 pm
I’m surprised Souray isn’t already signed somewhere…is there still some hope for a return to the Habs? (I don’t care about the -26, he’s a leader and exciting to watch, I’d like to see him back!)
18
July 1, 2007 am31 9:38 pm
Don’t worry we are going to sign Yasin
July 1, 2007 am31 9:54 pm
I don’t care what anyone says, Souray is one of the most important free agents out there and the Habs might still grab him. I’m hoping.
July 1, 2007 am31 10:14 pm
ESPN - Hab’s sign Smyth!!
July 1, 2007 am31 10:42 pm
Rumour is that Smyth will be signing with the Avalanche by tommorrow.
If Montreal fails to sign Souray then they will have been completely shut out of the frenzy!!
Sad!
I guess we have our choice between Yashin or Lang. Which will it be men??
Pathetic!!
I would not be surprised if by end of this month Koivu requests a trade. He said he is not interested in staying in Montreal if they are rebuilding and if they fail to sign any free agents of note then I would suggest they are rebuilding.
Pathectic to think that at one time, for so many years, Montreal was the place to be…now….not even a francophone wants to sign there!!
What in the hell will Bob do???? He certainly cannot sit tight? Obviously there are no big trades brewin’ or we would have had a sniff by now….what in the f-u-c-k will BOB do??
WTF!!!
July 1, 2007 am31 10:53 pm
Before everyone starts screaming at Gainey… He made an offer to Briere, he made an offer to Souray… But he can’t *make* players sign with Montreal if they don’t want to… maybe the fans and the city and the media need to start looking at themselves as to *why* no one wants to play in Montreal… From what I’ve read the offer to Briere was for more money than what he signed for in Philly… So before everyone starts blaming Gainey maybe the city should start looking at itself.
July 1, 2007 am31 11:08 pm
Was just surfin’ and here is the latest;
Smyth has been offered a 6 yr 39 mil. contract by Montreal, apparently it is the larget offer he has and will receive. There are some questions as to whether or not he and his wife want to live in Montreal. If Smyth wants the big money, he will sign with Montreal.
Other rumour is Zubrus will be coming back to Montreal as their 3rd line centre. I ask, ” Why not just re-sign BONK?”
Also, reason that Souray has not been signed is because of his league worst +/-!! I guess teams think that for $5-$6 mil. you should be able to get a good all-around defenceman and Souray is not one of those!! Go figure that!!
He may have no choice but to sign with Montreal at 3-4.5 mil. per year. But don’t rule out San Jose…..Rivet is there and he and Souray are good buds. They also lost Hannan so they will need a replacement.
I still say Montreal should sign Allison for a mil . a year. Why not…situation cannot be any worse than it appears to be right now..
OH BOY!!
July 1, 2007 am31 11:24 pm
Noooooooo not Zubrus … Or Yashin… I’d rather have Bonk and Johnson back..
And don’t tease me about the possibility of Smyth coming to Montreal… I hate getting my hopes up…
July 1, 2007 am31 11:35 pm
Oh well … so much for getting my hopes up, Smyth signed in Colorado for 5 years, $31.25 mil
July 1, 2007 am31 11:37 pm
It’s official. Smyth goes to Colorado.
It has been reported on TSN, that Montreal offered MORE money to Gomez, Briere, AND Smyth and ALL of them took LESS money to play somewhere else. Pierre McGuire explained that Bob Gainey is trying hard, but no players want to play in Montreal because of the high taxes players pay in Quebec.
I really think that if we don’t get Sheldon for less money (no more than 4.5 a year) we have to seriously look at defenceman more than forwards. I think Danny Markov would be a good fit, as well as possibly Sydor ( a good veteran presence on the blue-line).
Now that all the ‘top’ UFA’s are more or less gone, I think we should nab Nylander OR Kariya WITH a defenceman.
I.e. Nylander and Sydor/Markov
OR
Kariya and Sydor/Markov
PS- Bertuzzi anyone????
July 1, 2007 am31 11:37 pm
The Colorado Avalanche have signed winger Ryan Smyth to a five-year deal worth $31.25 million.
July 1, 2007 am31 11:46 pm
Avs sign free-agents Smyth, Hannan
TheFourthPeriod.com
The Colorado Avalanche have won the Ryan Smyth sweepstakes, TFP has learned.
Four teams were heavily courting Smyth, including the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens and New York Islanders, but Smyth decided to sign with Colorado.
Smyth, who was offered more money from the Habs, agreed to a five-year, $31.25 million contract with the Avalanche.
Earlier in the day, as TFP reported, the Avalanche signed unrestricted free agent defenseman Scott Hannan to a four-year contract.
Smyth, 31, played in 71 games this past season with the Edmonton Oilers and Islanders, registering 36 goals and 32 assists for 68 points.
In 788 career regular-season games, Smyth has accumulated 270 goals, 294 assists and 621 penalty minutes. The Banff, Alberta native was originally drafted sixth-overall by the Oilers in the 1994 HL Entry Draft.
Hannan, 28, will earn $18 million over the length of his new deal.
In 79 goals with the San Jose Sharks last season, Hannan tallied four goals, 20 assits and 38 penalty minutes.
Hannan has played in 508 career NHL games, all with San Jose, and has accumulated 25 goals, 102 assists and 329 penalty minutes.
The native of Richmond, BC, was originally drafted by the Sharks in the first-round (23rd overall) in 1997.
July 1, 2007 am31 11:47 pm
Gainey tried his best to get the forwards today … players and their agents (especially the agents) hate montreal because of so many different reasons, the most prominent one being our high tax situation. That being said, montreal’s offers to both smyth and briere were higher than the deals they accepted, so wtf is bob supposed to do? 8-years??? common.
the best thing to do would be to get souray signed and lock up a third line center, unless chipchura is on the way up next season.
July 1, 2007 am31 11:47 pm
Good Night!! It’s over!!! Thats all she wrote!!!!
July 1, 2007 am31 11:48 pm
This blog should be Canadians 2007 LACK OF FREE AGENT ACTIVITY and we can not blame BOB. It is sad when a french born player does not want to be here thanks to the media..
July 2, 2007 am31 12:00 am
All this talk about not being able to get a top UFA ? Sounds like i heard it before? Oh yea it was the same as last year at this time!!!!!1 year later and still no big names want ot come here because of the way the media in Montreal treats them..
July 2, 2007 am31 12:01 am
Kariya to the Blues for 3 years
July 2, 2007 am31 3:38 am
well looks as if we are left high and dry once again,and i do agree its the negative media that scares away players from signing in montreal.I say sign RYDER,SOURAY,trade bonk andwhoever the hell else also nab YASHIN andLANG what the hell can’t do any worse than last year.
July 2, 2007 am31 4:38 am
I think I’ve develop angina from all this. Let me get this right,we still have Kovalev?We are not doing nothing? Sounds to me like we lost all the bidding wars,THIS IS STUPID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 2, 2007 am31 7:01 am
CHL soon. We gonna have the Canadian Hockey League soon if things continu that way. Bettman doesn’t want any new team in Canada, or move any out there. And now, no key players sign for canadian teams, the only free agency player who signed with a canadian team is Blake with Toronto. It’s has to mean something. In the end we gonna have a poor canadian league with bad canadian players who will play for less money here, just like the CFL is to the NFL.
DON’T SIGN ANYONE.
We didn’t got Briere (didn’t think he would fit that good here) and we didn’t got Smyth.
Players want to play in a winning team, and montreal is not since we don’t have big key players. We get these by young guys in the draft, we are getting there but since we didn’t went enough low, we don’t get the big key players.
If we can’t get the high key players by UFA, just leave more space for our young kids, that’s the way to go. The other option is trade, but we have nothing to trade. May be in the Goalkeeper position, but we are not there yet, Halak price worth isn’t high enough to trade him for a high key player with others. If we exchange Koivu or Kovalev or Ryder or Higgens, then we gonna create a weekness to patch another one, wich is not good for now.
Give some kids the chance to play in the NHL and let’s see what happens a year from now. If koivu want to go out, trade him or show him that the other team doesn’t like him has much as we do.
1 Year reconstruction, I hate it but we can do it.
July 2, 2007 am31 8:05 am
The Rangers, who already had Shanahan, Jagr, Straka and Prucha, suddenly add both Drury and Gomez. This means they now have 2 lines better than the first line in Montreal. Get some good players already..
July 2, 2007 am31 8:56 am
Can anyone explain why top players don’t want to play in Montreal?
July 2, 2007 am31 11:51 am
yA’all wanna know why no players wanna come to mtl? Cause we ain’t got good enuff players to help make the stars shine! This “Gainey is God” comment, kind disproves itself, cause if he was a hockey God, we’d have Smyth, Gomez, etc already. Heck we’d have the Neidermeyers.
But no, we go Johnson, Dandenault and Bouillon, heck the answer to last year’s big rush was Garth Murray and Downie! What’s so Hockey God about keeping deadwood…and this excuse of it being a small market team, honest…
I have never heard so many excuses, heck we’d put the Canadian Down Hill Slalom team to shame with our excuses! We routinely blame the media, the taxman, heck next we’ll blame Celine Dion! Why not coz there’s not enuff chip wagons left in Mtl? Or hey cause the roof falls in at the O! Or cause hey the Americans bought our beer! What other excuses do we have?
Why not put the blame where it belongs? With management. Its the management who signs this deadwood! We have crappy players, and because of that, superstars don’t wanna come to Montreal. Plain simple. Look at the wild west, heck if crappy little Nashville with nothing, can bring big name players like Kariya, okay now he’s gone, but even if little Nashville can do it why can’t Montreal? The answer is, Nashville players play with heart. What does Montreal do? Adopt the City of Montreal’s road crew work ethic! Work hard at making potholes! Look at Kovalev and his russian mafia team complaining and griping….or heck those Europeans who don’t hit back….or those crappy Canadian players who waffle at the smallest check! Honestly!
It’s no wonder Gainey can’t sign players, cause the NHLPA knows Gainey has assembled a bad news bears equivalent of a hockey team!
July 2, 2007 am31 2:11 pm
Souray to Buffalo…that might be a possiblity now….we’ll wait and see eh?
July 2, 2007 am31 2:56 pm
Come on! This is not Gainey’s fault. here’s my proof:
Smyth didn’t come because his wife did not want to live in Montreal.
Briere’s boyfreind is starting goalie in philly.
Drury and Gomez went to the rangers because they have way more talent.
And Kariya went to the Blues because his brother Steve signed with them.
Oh, by the way, Selanne’s still availible so Koivu could bring him here.
July 2, 2007 am31 3:03 pm
We need another center and 2 defence (1 if Souray stays) so…A) Neylander is now the man, the best thats left and a Swede so he might not mind coming to Montreal. No I don’t believe we will get him but its nice to dream. B) Frankly I don’t mind taking Yashin if he’s cheap, and if we only keep him for 2 years. Lets face it the thing we are all waiting for is Lecalvaliers contract to come up in 2 years, if we get him then we have 2 marquee players (him and Price) and then stuff might start to look good again. C) Chipchura will replace Alex P.
As for defense…we are screwed.
July 2, 2007 am31 3:03 pm
I wish Glen Sather was our GM
July 2, 2007 am31 3:04 pm
Disappointing, but not terribly surprising beginning to Mtl’s UFA efforts. I was hoping for something that I was reasonably certain would never happen, I suppose. Looking at some of these contracts, and the terms of said contracts, makes me almost happy we didn’t sign some of these guys.
Gomez has scored more than 19 goals once, in 2005-6, when he got 33, and he’s coming off of a 13 goal, 60 point campaign. Yet he gets $10 million next year, and recieved the largest per year of all the UFAs so far. For that kind of money, I want a 50 or 60 goal scorer, not a guy who has scored less than 20 6 out of 7 seasons. Add in the fact that he’s soft as cotton, and who needs him?
Briere was quoted as saying that he likes the direction that Philly is going in, and that’s why he signed there. I have to say that I would too, if I just got a 8 year, 52 million dollar contract from anyone–it’s a direction that leads straight to the bank account. I’m sure we could all appreciate that…
Others got overpaid as well, or got more years than is credible. IMO. So I say, yes, we needed to sign someone, but not at any price. If we’d paid Gomez that kind of money, I’d be even more unhappy than I am about the team’s failure to get something done.
With many of the Easts’ other teams upgrading, it could be a hard year for us Hab fans this coming season.
July 2, 2007 am31 3:05 pm
We aren’t going to sign any UFA’s. Stop dreaming habs fans. we’re stuck with this less than mediocre team for life! In Gainey, we DON’T TRUST!
July 2, 2007 am31 3:15 pm
You just don’t get it do you? It’s like when you were first learning how to budget. This is no different. You only get so much moola to play with. Unfortunately for Montreal Gainey has wasted Montreal’s budget on ****. Now he has no room to manouver. When you overpay Dandenault and Bouillon to begin with, and keep deadwood like Johnson and Ninnima and way-overpay them…then you can’t play with the big boys!
July 2, 2007 am31 3:21 pm
Josh what are you talking about? The Habs only have just over 30 million tied up right now, and the cap is at 50 million next year. Niinimaa is unrestricted, as is Johnson(who didn’t make much to begin with) as is Bonk as is Aebischer. They have plenty of money available.
They said on TSN that Montreal offered big contracts to both Briere and Smyth. Players just don’t want to come to Montreal to deal with the constant bull****.
July 2, 2007 am31 3:22 pm
Ah, I wondered how long it would be before Josh chimed in with his opinion. Still as worthless as always. Yes, let’s blame Gainey and management when maybe players don’t want to play in a french city and have to learn a whole new language. Even when Carbs was an assitant coach here I heard the rumour that he was unable to put his daughter into an english school. Maybe Smyth and everyone else who decided not to sign here didn’t want to go through the hassles. But, it’s all a bunch of maybes. No one knows for sure, it’s all guess work.
The point is that this year, no one wanted to sign with Montreal. Maybe we get Souray back, maybe not. Maybe we get Bonk and Johnson back, maybe not. If we do we have basically the same team as last year. We’re not making a run at the cup, it’s time to trade and rebuild.
July 2, 2007 am31 3:23 pm
It kinda shows that Gainey is out of his league now. Maybe he had management do things for him in Minnesota. And all of a sudden, we see Gainey for what he is. A cheap son of a ****** who can’t spot veteran talent if his life depended on it. And he takes credit for the hard work of his scouts! It’s time to boot Gainey out! Give Trevor Timmins the boot too! He’s an insecure scout who doesn’t scout anyone who is too much bigger than he is…and maybe Gainey’s on the same insecure kick too! The reality is in this the new old NHL, size beats speed anytime! You may skate rings around Chara and Antropov and even little Straka, but hey, they are gonna wind you down over the rest of the game….
We need a real hockey team with real NHL players. Not this sad bunch! Granted some of the rookies are great, but hey you need an all around team!
July 2, 2007 am31 3:34 pm
Avatar doesn’t get it do you Avatar? You ain’t never gonna get superstars if you scout small fry and broken down alcoholics as the backup! Like as if Smyth wants Johnson puking all over him during breaks, or worse yet have Markov fall on him when he tries to defend the goalie! Or watch the other team skate circles around the defense of Dandenault and Bouillon!
No wonder we can’t get players here, its not the racism ****, its not all the other stuff either. If we take your excuse then what the hell is Carbo doing here then?
Or any other player for that matter? Maybe if its so bad Montreal should shut the habs down then! HUH????? Don’t you know how stupid you sound?
Its all about the crappy players Montreal seems to have gotten under past two or three GMs….its gone downhill.
July 2, 2007 am31 3:43 pm
who said that no free agents want to come here….”WHERE DID THAT COME FROM because the team 990 said it and everyone believes it”
who cares we didn`t get Briere all 5′-10″ of him seriously another small centerman…10 million the first year give me a break Philly is just stupid
Ryan Smith yeah that one was a sad one to let go but hey those are the breaks get over it. Gainey only went after 2 free agents that`s it…and so what they didn`t sign I am all about the guys in the minors now they are hungry and want to be part of this team…
so Joshtm go find yourself a nice women and take her out on date and just maybe just maybe she wil let you kiss her….LOSER FOR LIFE
I`m so tired of reading your **** and this blog…..
July 2, 2007 am31 3:43 pm
It’s been a long time since I posted a comment, but reading some of the swivel written against Gainey, I had to take a moment.
1. Bob is probably just as p’d off as many of us. By all accounts he’s been making huge offers to people like Briere and Smyth, to no avail. Whether the other team has a better direction, the wives are worried about the city, or whatever, we’ve said this before, but UFAs are just not that interested in Mtl. That’s why we got Sammy last year: no one else wanted him. I think Bob learned a lot from that experience.
2. The trade route is the way to go, we said it last year, the same goes for now.
3. The team is definately looking great!!! Lots of fantastic rookies and sophs who will make this team a winner in the medium term.
4. We need 1-2 of those wily veterans within the next 6-12 months to win the Cup in 2 years, which seems to be the building goal since a couple of years already. As proven these years, the only way will be through a trade… I see Vinny, Marleau and others in the picture.
Long story short, grow up!! Those of you who wake up cynical and then drink a raw lemon for breakfast should cool off and remember the realities of hockey in Montreal since the past 20 years. We’ll never be able to buy a Cup like the southern US teams (or maybe the Rangers this year… whoa!), but we will be able to build one. That’s what Bob is doing … and noting the talent on the team already, he’s on his way.
Now… just a little luck, and a few surprises……….
July 2, 2007 am31 3:45 pm
As I sit here watching all the notable UFAS slip through our fingertips, I can’t help but think… never mind the big name players who have signed already, and collaborate that Montreal is not the most appealing city to play in, we don’t have a single player signed from the UFA pool yet!!!!!!!!!!! Not One!!!! I really do hope that Shelly chooses to stay where he belongs, but the clock is ticking. I said this before, but at this point, why not two guys like Danny Markov, and Slava Kozlov? All I’m saying is that both of these guys are affordable, and veteran players. With Rafalski in Detroit now, I believe that Markov would be expendable, and Slava is a very creative forward who could help Kovy. He’s a very accurate passer, and has a great shot. Markov is a rock on the blue line! This is just food for thought, but if Le Bleau Blanc Rouge don’t do something soon, they could very easily be cellar dwellers by X-mas! Go Habs Go! (Make a move soon… you have no choice.)
July 2, 2007 am31 5:11 pm
Will there ever be light at the end of the tunnel.i try to convince myself Bob did his best to bring in ufas.They keep on saying montreal is not desirable taxes,language and media pressure.IS this the new NHL.There isn’t a level playing field money talks as we see long term cotracts with no trade clauses.these guys go the best of worlds.the nhl should look into a system like the draft to give a fair chance to all teams to get these top players. i just hope BOB does sign some players that will help till the yougsters down on the farm and drafts picks can make up to the big team.
July 2, 2007 am31 5:23 pm
who cares about ufa’s anyhow, you have to overpay and i haven’t seen any team have great success by builing a club with ufa’s. i don’t recall any ufa aquistions that put a team over the top. do you?
i don’t understand why people have to act like a bunch of spoiled 5 year olds who didn’t get the toy they wanted this time of the year every year. we thought guys like Brad Richards were overpaid only 3 weeks ago, suddenly it doesn’t look that way anymore. i mean guys who have a career high of 70 points getting 7 million dollars? let these foolish gm’s spend like a bunch of drunken sailors on shore leave. if the canadian dollar starts to go down again don’t expect the cap to go up anymore. now that would be funny seeing the cap go down and all these teams try to sqirm out of these 5-8 year deals which have NMC’s.
all that being said we better not settle for the leftovers, i’d rather starve.
July 2, 2007 am31 5:32 pm
Selanne’s still available and he want’s to go to the habs.
P.S. Bertuzzi,Forsberg,and Yashin want to come.
Selanne says he’ll take 32 million for 12 years or 12 million for 6 years, and he would give koivu and (hopefully) Kovalev a big boost. And that would make Koivu a 35 goal scorer and a 95 point getter. Selanne would 50-65 goal scorer and 115-125 point getter. oh, Selanne would also be a replacement for Souray on the powerplay 35 goals on the man-advantage. And instead of Kovalev, Ryder and higgins would be 40(ryder), and 30(higgins) goal scorers. Higgins would have 60 pionts Ryder would have 75! That’s the difference one player can make. As for Kovalev…he would have about 62 points 20 goals so if they sign Selanne
they should keep kovalev until the deadline and if worth it longer.So come on Gainey! Sign Selanne!Go habs Go!Go habs Go! And sign souray somehow!!(If you have money!!)
July 2, 2007 am31 5:35 pm
Bertuzzi,Forsberg,and Yashin want to come.
Selanne says he’ll take 32 million for 12 years or 12 million for 6 years, and he would give koivu and (hopefully) Kovalev a big boost. And that would make Koivu a 35 goal scorer and a 95 point getter. Selanne would 50-65 goal scorer and 115-125 point getter. oh, Selanne would also be a replacement for Souray on the powerplay 35 goals on the man-advantage. And instead of Kovalev, Ryder and higgins would be 40(ryder), and 30(higgins) goal scorers. Higgins would have 60 pionts Ryder would have 75! That’s the difference one player can make. As for Kovalev…he would have about 62 points 20 goals so if they sign Selanne
they should keep kovalev until the deadline and if worth it longer.So come on Gainey! Sign Selanne!Go habs Go!Go habs Go! And sign souray somehow!!(If you have money!!)
July 2, 2007 am31 5:36 pm
Bertuzzi,Forsberg,and Yashin want to come.
Selanne says he’ll take 32 million for 12 years or 12 million for 6 years, and he would give koivu and (hopefully) Kovalev a big boost. And that would make Koivu a 35 goal scorer and a 95 point getter. Selanne would 50-65 goal scorer and 115-125 point getter. oh, Selanne would also be a replacement for Souray on the powerplay 35 goals on the man-advantage. And instead of Kovalev, Ryder and higgins would be 40(ryder), and 30(higgins) goal scorers. Higgins would have 60 pionts Ryder would have 75! That’s the difference one player can make. As for Kovalev…he would have about 62 points 20 goals so if they sign Selanne
they should keep kovalev until the deadline and if worth it longer.So come on Gainey! Sign Selanne!Go habs Go!Go habs Go! And sign souray somehow!!(If you have money!!)
July 2, 2007 am31 5:37 pm
Selanne still available
July 2, 2007 am31 5:48 pm
Canadiens sign Roman Hamrlik
July 2, 2007 am31 6:02 pm
You know what guys? Who cares if briere signed in philly he is way to small anyways and would not get more than 70 points in montreal anyways.Who cares if smyth signed with colorado his wife must wear the pants in that family its plain to see.(p u s s y wipped)Why is everyone so upset over not being able to sign these overpaid gold diggers.Just take a look at the final year of brieres,smyths contract,would you want to pay them 6.5 million at the age of 37 lol.That is just plain stupid and dont kid yourself everyear there is always a free agent BUST so one of these teams is gonna be stuck with a very big contract to deal with.As far as i am concerned if players dont want to play in montreal then we dont ******* i n g want you wearing the red,white and blue.Just have a little faith guys and be proud of our habs because one day we will be back on top and one day many players in the nhl will regret snubbing the montreal canadians. GO HABS GO p.s Gainey has somthing up his sleeve and we will all know what it is in the comming days.
July 2, 2007 am31 6:07 pm
I missed ya Pactum Serva words of wisdom…
July 2, 2007 am31 6:14 pm
lol thanks lucky
July 2, 2007 am31 6:19 pm
Hamrlik, good solid signing! Maybe this is the first of good things to happen… we can hope!
July 2, 2007 am31 7:16 pm
Read this post on habs inside/out, it opened my eyes.
Pity the poor Habs! It’s so sad they treat prima donna Russian ice dancers so bad, word must be getting around that they run a slave ship in Montreal. Get Real!!! You want hell, try the Islanders? That’s New York brother, major market, solid tradition, loads of cash. And what do they have to show??? They traded away two top prospects and this yrs 1st for a rental player who just walked out the door, along w/ their top goal scorer, their #4 scorer, and their top defenseman. You want hell, try Buffalo a team where players had a “chance to win” then had both their co-captains walk. So much for commitment to team.How bout a 3-time Cup winner like New Jersey & their HOF goalie? They lost their top center and Top D-man. Now tell me any of those teams has the deep well of prospects that the Habs do. At worst we lose a -28 d-man. I’d hate to see him go, but…If you’d rather have $4 million in cap space tangled up in a 39 yr old Jason Blake like the Leafs will in a few yrs, go ahead and cry a river. I’m happy to be patient and wait to see what the kids do.
I believe in Price!!!
July 2, 2007 am31 7:50 pm
… Very well said. I to am excited to see what the kids do!
July 2, 2007 am31 9:52 pm
Yes, the habs are going to have to build through the draft and development system. We’ll get there but it’s going to take longer. Go HABS Go!
July 3, 2007 am31 6:36 am
First of all, players don’t want to play in Montreal because of stu pid fans like josh and the ridiculous French media…
Second, I’m glad Gainey’s not overspending on Briere, Smyth, Drury and Gomez, those players aren’t superstars but are being paid by idiot teams like they are.
Hamrlik and Smolinski are fine tweaks, Lord knows we need help defensively… and maybe just maybe Saku can talk Teemu into signing here.
July 3, 2007 am31 11:54 am
I would like the Habs to sign Danny Markov. I am not comfortable with Striet playing full-time defence. (Maybe we put him on the wing for the whole season and on the point for power plays.)
I would be okay with Johnson re-signing.
Yashin I am not comfortable with. As someone else mentioned make him earn his contract with incentives if we absolutely can’t get along without him.
Zubrus I am just okay with… I know and like many Russians, but they seem to only play when they want to. When they want to they are amazing. When they don’t they are shadows on skates.
Chris Simon might also be a lotto pick if he is available on the cheap. Simon could add some size/punch/character on the fourth line.
Question: Is Bill Guerin interested in Montreal ?
We have some cash lets spend it on free agents and keep the prospects in the barn. Marleau is good, but at what price if these rumours are true ?
Another that might fit for the cheap: Gelinas
O’Neill from the Toronto Make Believes could add scoring…or even Peca to take over Bonk’s spot.
July 3, 2007 am31 1:19 pm
I am a little disappointed that Montreal did not get Gomez, Briere, Drury or Ryan Smyth but Gainey did offer these players more money and they took less money to play elsewhere so we should not blame Gainey on this one. The Habs do have some good prospects on the way and they will win the cup in the next 3 or 4 years. They will be cup contenders before it is all said and done, just wait and see.
July 3, 2007 am31 1:44 pm
I can’t believe u guys thought Smyth was a habs canadidate. bros wake up, Smyth can tip in goals(that’s great) but we need a hockey player not a baseball player, I see him play hockey, he’s in slow motion and he doesn’t do too much. I would like Briere better but didn’t happen. I like the Hamrlik signing and the smolinski thingy, but It is not over.TSN said they had 31M before signing players, now after buying they probably have 38M THE CAP LIMIT IS 50 MILLIOM.12 Million to spend guys!
July 3, 2007 am31 1:44 pm
I can’t believe u guys thought Smyth was a habs canadidate. bros wake up, Smyth can tip in goals(that’s great) but we need a hockey player not a baseball player, I see him play hockey, he’s in slow motion and he doesn’t do too much. I would like Briere better but didn’t happen. I like the Hamrlik signing and the smolinski thingy, but It is not over.TSN said they had 31M before signing players, now after buying they probably have 38M THE CAP LIMIT IS 50 MILLIOM.12 Million to spend guys!
July 3, 2007 am31 1:45 pm
sorry I didn’t mean to repeat ,lol
July 3, 2007 am31 8:55 pm
http://broadband.tsn.ca/tsn/?id=349&vid=9294
Bob now says we only have 2-3 million left in the kitty to get players ?
Wow that large availability of cap room is gone after 1 major signing and 1 medium signing ?
We still can get Gelinas, Allison, or Simon for that amount.
I guess we fill up empty spots with our AHL Champs……