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A lot of bogus rumors floating around Montreal lately. The newest is that Todd Marchant who was waived by the Columbus Blue Jackets to make room for Sergei Fedorov – will become a Hab.

Why? Just because a player’s last name can be pronounced in French doesn’t mean he is coming to the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens don’t need any players like Todd Marchant. Small, speedy – we have plenty. The biggest reason however? $2.47 Million for this year, next year, and then $2.66 Million for the 3rd. Who the hell negotiated this guys contract? Michael Ryder only makes 1 million! I think he is highly overpaid and I’m sure most GMs will think the same. I expect him to clear waivers and go to the minors. Someone can pick him up closer to the playoffs but it looks like Todd’s contract came back to haunt him.

Habs squeak out another 2 points

The Habs moved 2-0 against the Florida Panthers this year with a 4-3 overtime victory. They made it a lot harder than it should have been, blowing a 3 goal lead in the 3rd period and leaving it 4 seconds away from a shoot out.

Did the Canadiens deserve to win? I don’t think so. Did they paly a full 60 minutes? Of course not. Instead of sleeping for 40 minutes and playing for 20, the Canadiens played for 40 and took a nap for 20. Either way the result is the same, INCOMPLETE GAME. The Habs are incredibly lucky to have come up with a W. If they don’t learn to play a full game their winning luck will surely end sooner rather than later.

The Canadiens did some good things. They came out on fire, and their powerplay was dominant each chance they got keeping the puck in the offensive zone time and time again. Saku Koivu played like a man possesed, but he always does. Scoring 2, including the heroic overtime goal – he also broke up a 3-0 defensively and was strong on every shift. I guess when you beat cancer every single shift is a gift and he knows it. Steve Begin follows his work ethic and it shows. Scoring again and throwing his body all over the place, he had a little tussle with Eric Cairns and made the smart decision not to drop the gloves. He is after all a 7 goal scorer, equal to Alex Kovalev.

Sheldon Souray did some good things too. He roughed it up with Gary Roberts behind the net and that is exactly how he must play in order to be effective. Get back to his basics, strong rough and painful to play against. Chipping in a long field goal pass to Koivu for the winner also helps.

As good as our record indicates, we still haven’t played to our full potential.

ShoutBox

Last Message 1 day, 4 hours ago

muller93 : MB is forced to go out and get a big D-man. Missing Emelin for almost half the season is the last thing we needed to hear. Now going out and getting a big D-man is a MUST!!!
muller93 : Now for the Fu**en Bruins who have no business even being in the second round are going to get a nice rest. Yes the same goons who took out one of best D-man for 6 more months. There is NO Fu**en justice. Just venting--Ok i feel better now.
muller93 : So pissed to see the Rangers lay down and play like total crap. How did the Rangers beat the Caps? This team is playing with no heart--a must win and can only muster 23 shots...PATHETIC !!!
muller93 : Senet I did see Galchenyuks goal--Made a great move for the game winner. You can see the kid has so much confidence.
goalie : If Rangers get swept I wonder if Tortorella will get his walking papers? Or Glen Sather? They have tons of 'talent' but zero wins in this series.
goalie : It's really too bad we lost to the Sens as we would have played the Rangers and the way NYR are playing we would have beat them too. If only. If only!
Senet1 : Actually I agree it was a good move for them to play a shorter season and get the experience. He could not have played in the minors this year he would have had to play junior or the NHL. However, he now has a year under him and knows what to expect next year and hopefully take a bigger responsibility on the team. Did you see those two goals in the bronze game? Wow.
muller93 : Good move by the Habs not having Galchenyuk play in the minors. Now Galchenyuk has 1 year in the NHL and playoff experience this is going to pay off big time come next year.
Senet1 : Galchenyuk scores to back to back goals in shoot out to help USA win Bronze metal. I did not see the second goal but the first was a beauty.
Senet1 : So we could pick anywhere from 25th to 23rd depending on who wins these quarter final series.
Senet1 : First, is the 14 teams in the lottery. Then there are 12 teams that did not make the semi finals in the order of the seasonal finish, Then there are the four teams in the semi final the first two eliminated pick in the order of the regular season points total and the last two based on who wins and who loses the cup. So as it stand now if say Detroit beats Chicago then Detroit moves up to pick after us. Boston or NYR will move up and pick after us. LA or San Jose will move up and pick after us
Senet1 : Basically, I was wrong about the draft pick situation. There are three groups of drafting teams within the 30 teams.
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