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About Mats NaslundA huge fan of the Canadiens since I was brought into the world. I'm named after my earliest childhood hero, the mighty Mats Naslund.

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Game 46: Habs/Panthers

The Habs face the Panthers tonight. The question as always is: who starts? My guess is Jaro. One day when I have time I want to find out in how many of Carey Price’s starts have the Canadiens scored 1 or less goals? He seems to be disproportionately unlucky in that regard. Neither Sergei or Andrei will be in the lineup. Sergei reportedly skated breifly at Brossard yesterday. Ryan O’Byrne continues to be away from the team for family reasons.

Go Habs Go!!!

edit* Unsuprisingly, Jaro has been named the starter for tonight’s game.
Game 45: Habs/Caps

Before I get to tonight’s game I just wanted to say a quick word about the World Junior Tournament and the finals between Canada and the US. First off, I am a huge fan of this tourney, not only because I’m a huge fan of junior hockey, but because it is a fantastic opportunity to see some of the players from around the world that could be landing on NHL teams in the near future. I think we can all agree as Habs fans that it was amazing to watch PK Subban emerge last year at the WJC. For that same reason I am very pleased with the play of Dany Kristo (USA) who is tied for the team lead in goals (5), is a + 5, and leads the team with 29 shots on net in 7 games. Even though I’ll be cheering for Canada in tonight’s final, I’ll be hoping for a strong showing from Kristo.

Secondarily I wanted to say how impressed I am by the Americans in this tournament. They played a VERY NHL game against the Canadians on NYE, and have shown how hard USA hockey has worked on player development, and preparing these players for the bright lights of the world stage. I don’t know if they’ll win tonight, but Canada had better take notice that in years and tournaments to come USA is going to be a LOT more competitive.

What better opponent then for the Canadiens tonight than the Washington Capitals? I am going to make a bold prediction and state that there will be more than 1 goal scored in tonights tilt for those fans who complained about the snoozefest that were the final two periods of the Sabres game. Montreal had better find a way to generate a better offensive pressure or Washington will eat them alive. We’re in 8th spot, but with more games played than anyone else, we’ll need to eak out wins for a while if we’re to stay there.

Go Habs Go!!!

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Last Message 2 hours, 7 minutes ago

Senet1 : seriously ready to challenge for the cup. He will us win games but he will not be the difference between winning the cup and not winning the cup. You pick up players like that once you have the team ready to challenge,.
Senet1 : I am looking at the players to draft and there are a lot of big 6'3-6'5 forwards available ion the draft this year. If we could draft 3-4 big young players in the 2nd and 3rd round why would you want to give that up for a roster player who may have 2-3 years at best. If we are going to build a winner to have to build it with bigger players and there are a lot of good big players available this year. So you sign Ott and he is with us for the short run, but probably not when we are seriously re
Senet1 : Boullion is a great mentor for the young D-men
muller93 : Boullion is one of MBs great additions--Boull ion is a definite Keeper.
muller93 : Getting rid of Kaberle frees up a lot of cash. Boullion is small but is reliable and doesn't back down from anyone.
muller93 : Exactly Goalie any thoughts on a punishing D-man?
goalie : They;re showing determination adn skill vs Ducks and Blackhawks.
goalie : REd Wings could turn out to be the surprise team of this year's playoffs!
goalie : WE need to rid our team of Kaberle and Webber. Step two would be to then move Diaz. If we get that big d-man I believe that would push Boullion to # 7 on the chart. We'd then go with Georges, PK,Markov (to continue mentoring Ememlin) Tinordi as our starting six . THEN I'd be excited about our chances. We could then work on getting bigger forwards.
goalie : I too would gladly give up a 3rd round pick for Ott- the type of player we sadly lack. AND if we could get one more rugged, expeienced defenceman it would help immensely.
muller93 : Senet what you are saying makes sense but if we can get Ott for a 3rd round I'll take that all day.
muller93 : MB should be looking at a big D-man first, even though I like our blue line with the addition of Tinordi. We need that insurance just in case one gets injured. Also I'm a firm believer in starting with the goalie first then-defense-for wards-and we already have good goalie. We have all noticed when we have the lead Price is tough to beat.
Senet1 : So sometimes you have to sacrifice for one year or two to build that team in the draft. then add the finishing touches through FA and trades.
Senet1 : Muller, Detroit is another good example. They have been in the hunt every year with good well balanced teams yet only one or two cups to show for it. However, they have built a team that has a chance every years for the last 10+ years. That is what I think we have a chance to do this year with a good draft. It reminds me of the habs teams of the mid 80 and 90's we built a team then with sold draft picks and won the cup twice during that time period. So sometimes you have to sacrifice a one
muller93 : Very true Senet, you do need luck and we haven't had any luck it seems since the habs moved to the Bell Center. We had an incredible run in 2010 with some crazy goal tending from Halak. With Galchenyuk-Tinor di-Gallagher all in 1 year--not too bad, even with an early exit in the playoffs.
Senet1 : Muller I guess we all have our own ideas, but there has never been too many times that were successful when they traded their draft picks away. We have a chance to build this team so we have a shot at winning the cup over the next 10 years. Even as good as Pittsburgh has been they have only won the cup once since Crosby and Malkin have been with the team. That is because you not only need great players but you need luck to win, but one thing about Pittsburgh they have a chance every year. The
muller93 : Good point on Torres, he might be a liability. Torres has to tone it down a bit, but that's his game-very aggressive.
goalie : Though I don't condone what Raffi Torres did - thos shows you how repeat offenders or near offenders are going to be treated. His hit was NOT illegal BUT what the rap sheet adn reputation Torres has he got severly punished. Lesson to be learned by OTHER players because Torres dopesn't learn fromk his mistakes.
muller93 : Senet normally I would agree with you on not trading draft picks but we are not in a rebuilding stage. Sometimes draft picks can be a roll of the dice and it can take up to 3 years to be NHL ready. We have a good team and I agree with Stuo players like Clowe-Torres-Ott -Scott will make a big difference. Somebody has to protect Gallagher, he can't keep getting hit the way does--we need a tough forward so they think twice before going after Gallagher.
Senet1 : Really a heathly Habs team would probably win more games against the Pens that we did against the Sens. Reason they Pens would not play as physical against us as against the Sens. If we get good goaltending we win at least two games.
zpezada4ok : hello all «link»
stuo11 : hes a tougher big guy too! Just a minor adjustment but will help a bit
stuo11 : hes better than markov, and hes french who was in mention for defenceman of the year
goalie : Markov for Beauchemin - an injury prone d-man for an ;old timer'd-man. Beauchemin is NOT what the Habs need in my opinion. He is a HUGE defensive liability.
goalie : Stuo 11 I'd make that trade with Oilers fast BUT I doubt the Oilers will make that. Two marginal d-men at the best for a switch of first round picks - not a chance .
stuo11 : markov for beachemin?
stuo11 : let moen go
stuo11 : maybe try and get steve begin back
stuo11 : we wouldve kicked out all other teams but pens, sens,
stuo11 : pens have alot of forwaRDS same with us but we have better goaltending
stuo11 : theres styles of play goalie. Sens played us good, but lost games to southeast teams florida and tampa and get crushed by leafs EVERYTIME. sens and leafsd cant beat bruins but we do frequently
stuo11 : Diaz weber and our 1st for their first edm
goalie : SEns beat us 4 games to 1. Pens had last night's game under their control. What does that mean if we were up vs the Pens in a series. I think the Habs have a way to go before we're competing for Lord Stanley's Cup!
Senet1 : If he could score goals like Lucic and we could sign him to a four year contract then I would consider it too. However, NOT if we only have him for one to two years.
Senet1 : So we went from 27th pick to 21st pick.