2007 Pre-Season Begins!

It’s been five long months since the Canadiens have hit the ice to play an NHL game.

Tonight the Habs host the Penguins in the first of back to back pre-season games.

This time last year it was Saku Koivu returning from an eye injury and Guillaume Latendresse’s much discussed second time trying to make it to the show. Whispers and excitement of Sergei Samsonov’s anticipated start with the Canadiens were circulating all over town….Mickey Ribs was sent packing and Janne Niinimaa was looking for a fresh start as a Hab….

Much has changed.

This year the main storyline seems to be Carey Price and what the Canadiens have in store for him in the near future.

It will be interesting to watch and see what he does, and how difficult he will make it on management to send him down.

Roman Hamrlik, Bryan Smolinski and Tom Kostopoulos among others will play as Canadiens for the first time.

Game on.

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21 Comments

#1 DTD says:
September 17, 2007 at 3:02 pm

Price is not ready for the NHL yet. He needs another year with the Bulldogs.

Huet needs to have a great 1st half. And be traded to a cup contender who needs a good goalie. Then Halak will be #1. Halak is a better goalie than price….

#2 Xtrahabsfan says:
September 17, 2007 at 3:07 pm

Can’t wait for the outcome,really hope we smoke em!Go Habs!

#3 DTD says:
September 17, 2007 at 3:21 pm

I bought a LCD TV last year. I got the HD box last night and RDS as well 82 habs games to watch. Can’t wait.

#4 superfan says:
September 17, 2007 at 3:59 pm

DTD, this is not wrestling, one to many knocks on the head…huet traded? halak better than price? what have you been smoking?

#5 PACTUM SERVA says:
September 17, 2007 at 6:58 pm

I would have to agree with u there superfan lol

#6 Dancan81 says:
September 17, 2007 at 7:13 pm

Is RDS HD happening? If so on Bell Expressvu?

#7 Habs Blog says:
September 17, 2007 at 7:17 pm

HD on RDS should be ready for first regular season game of the year.

#8 Xtrahabsfan says:
September 17, 2007 at 8:46 pm

Yo Superfan,I agree with DTD trade Huet mid season,infact send him to the sharks,and start Price and split duty with Halak,let the rebuild commence a.s.a.p.

#9 Jordan Richardson says:
September 18, 2007 at 4:41 pm

Moving a goaltender midseason so that he can play on a “contender” is not going to build anything but uncertainty for the Habs. Huet needs to solidify himself and play the majority of the year, giving his team consistency and helping Price and Halak build.

#10 Habs#1 says:
September 18, 2007 at 6:20 pm

Geez Kovalev why do you tease us in the pre-season when we all know you’ll go back to not caring during the regular season.

The Habs/Pens rivalry is heating up though, too bad till Price becomes a superstar the Habs will get killed by them

#11 DTD says:
September 18, 2007 at 9:29 pm

Same old Habs as last year. Can’t score 5 on 5. Halak was very weak tonight. 2 very soft goals. The top line was a no show again. Dejavu……

As for my #9 post Halak did not prove himself tonight that’s for sure.

Huet will be #1, Halak #2 and Price will be back with the Bulldogs.

THIS WILL BE A LONG YEAR…………..

#12 slyburger says:
September 18, 2007 at 11:47 pm

DTD, you cannot draw conclusions after only 2 pre-season games. I bet you were feeling quite good about the team last night after we beat Crosby and an almost complete penguins team, as did I. I was at the game tonight and while it was disapointing, we gotta remember that most of these players are tests and are not even NHL material. Once Carbs pares down the team then you can start to come to conclusions. But i think we will be a different team by then. Take all the good points of team A and the good points of team B and throw all the bad points out the window and you’ve got yourself a competitive team. And besides, Higgins hasn’t even laced em up yet

So far, Kovalevs lookin good, Huet’s lookin good, Kostitsyn is looking to break out. Add those factors to last years team and we’re in the playoffs.

#13 DTD says:
September 19, 2007 at 7:22 am

I hope that you are right Slyburger …………..

#14 fan3 says:
September 19, 2007 at 1:13 pm

‘And besides, Higgins hasnâ€™t even laced em up yet ‘

Ya, what gives with that? I was looking for him the last two games! Do they not want to show our secret weapon on National Television until we absoloutly have to?

#15 HabsFan4life says:
September 19, 2007 at 2:58 pm

His shoulder isn’t quite ready for the full contact yet.

#16 Stuart-SB77 says:
September 19, 2007 at 3:42 pm

I think AK27 is back! I don’t think he’ll get under 60 pts this year guys. Kovalev is starting to think of finally winning the cup again.

#17 Don Carnage says:
September 20, 2007 at 8:57 am

I am looking forward to seeing who will make the team this year. Let’s hope AK27 is as deadly as an AK47 this year , we need to score tons.

#18 Slyburger says:
September 21, 2007 at 1:04 pm

“His shoulder isnâ€™t quite ready for the full contact yet.”

Wasnt he training like a beast all off season and meditating and all that ****? And now he’s to weak to play? what gives?

#19 gp says:
September 21, 2007 at 1:34 pm

Easy guys..Higgy did work out like a beast, and its just precautionary stuff. It’s preseason and the Habs rather be “overly” safe than sorry. I know he wants to get back as soon as possible too, but he understands the reasons..
GP

#20 Jaker 1 says:
September 21, 2007 at 4:16 pm

I had the chance to see the game Wednesday night in Moncton against NYI. The only thing that really concerns me is a legitimate tough guy.Murray did well in a couple of tussels but I think they need a guy that other team are going to say to themselves “we can’t push around their smaller players or we will pay the price”. Right now I don’t think any team will fear that.That just one small negative but on the positve I think this is going to be an exciting team to watch. When no one expects anything from you, you usually have nothing to lose.

#21 PACTUM SERVA says:
September 21, 2007 at 6:19 pm

Totally agre with you on that one jaker

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goalie : I can't type.... what a faux pas on my behalf...
goalie : I just realized what I said adn didn't say yesterday. What a fayx as on my behalf. Regarding coaching Randy Cunnyworth MUSDT stay as an assistant- he deserves at least that after the tremendous job he did in the latter part of this past season. I'd still mlike to have Robinson, Carbo adn Allard on the staff also.
Avatar37 : I agree Senet, my choice if we can't have Cunneyworth would be Crawford, Robinson on defense, Cunneyworth for offense, and Carbo as offense/faceoffs .
Senet1 : I think if I had my choice it would be Crawford and see if he could get Carbo and Robinson as assistants. That would be my idea coaching team.
goalie : I witnesed Marc Crawford MANY times when the Avs, etc. played against Oilers and let me tell you - he is constantly on the referees asses virtually game after game. He is the complete OPPOSITE of J. Martin. Crawford is calm on TSN but he is one excited coach behind the bench. A friend of mine who was an NHL linesman for 26 years said they dreaded Crawford he was so tough on the officials!
goalie : You know, I've bee thinking about the coaching situation. I'd be really excited if the Habs had Hartley as head coach and Carbo adn Robinson as his assistants. I also read it somewhere about a month ago that Toronto's goalie coach Allard (?) wants to relocate back to Montreal where he has his goaltending school/business. Add him to the mix and I'd say the Habs would be in great shape coaching wise.
Avatar37 : Well, from what I recall, Hartley didn't do all that well with the Thrashers. But, I don't know enough about him to judge one way or the other. Crawford I do know, and he always seemed to be a good, level headed coach to me.
Senet1 : even Pacioretty two years ago did not impress any of us. Younger players have to play and make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. If they sit in the press box they are learning nothing.
Senet1 : Of course if he have some good assistants like a Larry Robinson to teach the young defence and someone like Carbo to teach faceoffs etc. then your coach does not have to be as good at teaching. If Hartley fits the bill you get no argument from me. My only previous point is that if he is impatient with your younger players to the point that he does not play them, then we are right back where we were with Martin. Martin was a good coach too, but how he handled Emelin, PK and even Pacioretty two
goalie : I would like to see the Habs sign a coach who realizes that our team isn't tough enough (we need to get bigger and somewhat more nastier),the coach needs t be a great TEACHER and be a coach who can get the players to understand and buy into his system. Other than that I couldn't care what lingo he speaks. I wnat to see our team become a ligitimate contender fast!
HabsLoseAgain : Well we dont know if he is or is not a teaching coach. I woukd just hate to paint Hartley something that he is not. There will always be questions but if Hartley was hired as the habs new bench boss i for one would not be overly upset.
Senet1 : My thoughts are not that he is or is not a good coach but rather that when he won the cup he had an experience team of superstars on that team. Where as we have a group of young inexperienced players, is he a teaching coach or a tactical coach or both? I am not question whether he is a good coach, but my question therefore is he the coach for us at this point in the deveopment of our team?? Not sure we are all purely speculating at the moment?
Senet1 : Something happened to my first post. I will try again.
Senet1 : That is why I said I am not sure he is the coach for us at this time? Right now we are all speculating including yourself, because non of us know for sure?
HabsLoseAgain : Crawford also won a cup with Patrick Roy so would you say he is a good coach or did he just have great players and one of the best goaltenders of alltime?
HabsLoseAgain : Senrt so please give me some reasons why you think Hartley is not the coach the habs need right now. What is it that you do not like about him or his coaching style?
HabsLoseAgain : Well all great coaches had great players playing for them so i guess you you add a a pile of other coaches to that list including Bowan......
Senet1 : Hartley, was he a good coach or did he just have great players and one of the best altime goaltenders of all time. I am not sure that he is the type of coach that this organization needs right now. Unless of course we sign a ton of free agents.
Avatar37 : However, my feelings may completely be wrong, Hartley may turn out to be a good fit.
Avatar37 : I didn't say Hartley was unknown, I said we demoted a good coach in Cunneyworth and now have an unknown quantity because we don't have a coach. I don't have that great a feeling about Hartley, I'd be much more comfortable with Crawford.
HabsLoseAgain : In my opinion i think he might be a good fit in montreal. Oh and he also likes to have a tough team.
HabsLoseAgain : Also this year he coached the ZSC Lions to the swiss championship title.
HabsLoseAgain : lol the so called "unknown" won a cup in 2000-2001 with the colarado avalanch.
HabsLoseAgain : lol Bob Hartley is not an unknown lol.....sheesh.
Senet1 : I think he has until the trading deadline to show us that he deserves to be on this team. If he does not get back on track then he could be simply a 2nd round draft pick to whoever we can trade him to.
Avatar37 : Bourque reminds me of Pouliot, size, skill, and invisible. He needs to get back to playing a physical game and bang people around and maybe he'll start getting some of those garbage goals again. Need to get to the front of the net. I hope he can find his game again.
Avatar37 : We had a good coach in Randy Cunneyworth. Now we have an unknown, with Bob Hartley rumoured to be the front runner. I'd rather have Cunneyworth.
goalie : A player like Rene Bourwue has al the physical attributes of what would be a beter than average player. Hwever, he certainly didn't play that well especially after being in Montreal about three weeks. We NEED players like Rene to play hard AND produce points on a REGULAR BASIS in order for us to be competitive.
Senet1 : MONTREAL – Rene Bourque had a rocky start to his career as a Hab, but he’s planning on using the next four years to make up for it. After arriving in Montreal under less-than-ideal circumstances in January, Bourque spent the following 38 games hoping to find the spark he needed to rekindle his offensive production. Despite flanking Tomas Plekanec on the team’s second line to close out the season, the 30-year-old sniper suddenly found himself firing blanks in his new NHL home.
Senet1 : I think we have to be patient and not expect too much too soon. Let's get a strong management team in place, make a good choices in the draft get a good coach and then see what we need at the free agent market. I will not be too disapointed if we miss the playoffs again next year if it means a long term team success. We have the opportunity to make some major strides over the next two years at the draft table. Then we fill in the holes.
goalie : I certainly agree that we need to get some impact forwards who will sign for 5 years, not for a season then walk away. That's not going to help us.
goalie : I wouldn't trade PK for Ovetchkin no matter what. He is a coach's NIGHTMARE and a poor team player.
Senet1 : I believe he will as we graducally put better players around him and build this team.
Senet1 : Goalie I agree with Avatar. PK is the present and future of this teams defence. I would not even take Staal from Pittsburg unless I had him tied up in a long term contract of a Minimum of 5 years. Also once has to consider the salary difference. Pk is on the move up probably 3M plus for his next contract and then eventually 4-5M if he keeps on improving. He has moved his game up two gears since he came into the league 2 years ago. He now has to move to the next level and I believe he will as w
Avatar37 : pressure playing in Montreal, since he has problems with the expectations in Washington and Montreal isn't any easier. Then again, the media were very easy on Kovalev, so maybe it's a Russian thing? No idea. Anyway, yeah, it would have to be an established star that gives us an immediate drastic upgrade at forward, that's the only way I'd trade PK, because we'd be giving up a potential QB on our blueline for the next decade.