7th Defense spot up for grabs

J.P Cote who was considered the probable front runner to complete the Canadiens defense was injured in yesterdays training camp after Aaron Downey fell on his knee.

Cote will undergo an MRI to determine the extent of the injury.

This leaves the 7th defenseman spot wide open.

Who will step up and get the chance to star the season with the big team?

It won’t be James Sanford. Habs prospect James Sanford was sent home by Guy Carbonneau who was not impressed with his physical conditioning. It must be kind of embarrassing to be the first person cut and for being out of shape.

Dan Jancevski is the only other prospect with NHL experience. Although very little, 2 games.

But The Canadiens signed him this summer for a reason. They must like something about him. At 25 he’s paid his dues in the minors and this might be his lucky break.

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21 Comments

#1 nilan says:
September 18, 2006 at 7:55 am

I had not even heard of a potential injury. That would be a shame for Cote, who has certainly done what the club has asked of him. This in no way reinforces my confidence in the Habs D for the opening of the season.

#2 Alestar says:
September 18, 2006 at 8:32 am

How does a proffesional hockey player, in this day and age, show up for camp out of shape?!? Two years in a row!!!

Does James Sanford work at a “Krispy Kreme” in the off-season?

18

#3 Lafreniere says:
September 18, 2006 at 9:00 am

That’s too bad for Cote, this was his chance. I believe the HABS will pick up someone from waivers once the season starts.

#4 habs heart 1 says:
September 18, 2006 at 11:55 am

are the talks with Jason Wooley still ongoing?If so, I think we need to sign him, especially with the injury to Cote.

#5 Habs Blog says:
September 18, 2006 at 12:33 pm

Apparently the Habs decided against him and he’s now talking to Carolina

#6 Vallee says:
September 18, 2006 at 12:41 pm

What are the chances of Benoit getting somegame time?

#7 snake says:
September 18, 2006 at 1:51 pm

I think we will be fine. Boullion will be back sooner then everyone thinks. He is a tough one. As long as we have our number one D man healthy(Huet) we will be okay.

#8 Razz says:
September 18, 2006 at 3:11 pm

Yeah, not to worry. With Rivet, Markov, Souray, Dandenault, Komisarek, Streit, and Boullion coming back pretty soon we have an ok base. Besides, the injury to Cote isn’t that bad either. No need to sign anyone, unless we bring a real quality defenceman.
The Canadiens will play their first preseason game on Tuesday in Montreal against Boston. The line up will be:

Higgins-Koivu-Ryder
Begin-Bonk-Milroy
Perezhogin-Chipchura-Ferland
Latendresse-Maxwell-D’Agostini

We will have to wait before seeing some Kovalev (Ribeiro/Grabovsky) Samsonov line in action, but you gotta give those newbies a chance.

#9 Habs#1 says:
September 18, 2006 at 6:36 pm

Gainey signed Jancevski for a few reasons and they’re the reason’s that he will be the #7 d-man.

1)Gainey drafted him when he was the GM in Dallas, that’s were he was signed from.

2)He knows this guy fairly well.

3)From what I understand he’ll bring some sandpaper to the d-corps.

4)He has more experience than anyone else.

These are may my reasons why Dan Jancevski will be the #7 d-man.

#10 jack tornton says:
September 18, 2006 at 9:38 pm

Don’t giv the chance to any of our prospect this is the time of the year we have to aquire a professional defence(period)

#11 snake says:
September 18, 2006 at 11:32 pm

Let them fight it out for the spot. Thats why we have preseason. I really dont care who it is as long as they get the job done.

#12 snake says:
September 18, 2006 at 11:42 pm

Dont know if anyone here has been to Winnipeg but if you are ever in town I would recommend you dont start a hockey conversation with anyone. WE are invested with leaf fans. Ever since the crappy Jets left all of those fans who chose to continue to watch hockey(still some crying)converted over to the dark side. Mostly cause the leafs get the most publicity and all of their games are on TV out here. We have a small french community here who love the habs but other then that its all leafs fans. I do my best to convert a couple here and there but there’s way too many to deal with. Just thought I would let everyone know.

#13 snake says:
September 18, 2006 at 11:44 pm

Poeple here laugh when I tell them I watch RDS to see my team play. They dont understand why i would watch a game in french. Obviously if you are a habs fan you understand. I actually enjoy the games in french. Dont know a word of french but I fell during the game I understand everything they say. Call it hockey sense.

#14 Rob says:
September 19, 2006 at 2:23 am

I agree with Habs #1. Gainey acquired Jancevski as an unrestricted free agent for a reason, and like most of the deals that he has made as GM, I think he knows something that the rest of us don’t. Gainey seems to have pretty good hockey sense when it comes to defensemen. I mean who really knew that Patrice Brisebois was really such a lousy defenseman, and why were the Habs holding onto him all those years before Gainey arrived on the scene?

Gainey did draft Jancevski originally, and obviously feels he has something to offer since he acquired him for a second time this year as an unrestricted free agent. Also, don’t forget that it was Gainey that was smart enough to steal Stephane Robidas to Dallas from Montreal for nothing when he was GM in Dallas.

There are still enough potential prospects available to do the job on D until Boullion is ready to return. No need to panic. Great opportunity for some prospects to gain some NHL experience.

#15 Phil says:
September 19, 2006 at 10:30 am

Snake as HABS fan for life!! I watch RDS also.I don’t understand french,but hockey is the universal language…But I prefer to watch RDS to the **** CBC pours out about the laffs.You can put TSN in that grouping as well..Both stations anouncers have nothing good to say about the Canadiens.

#16 Papineau says:
September 19, 2006 at 4:04 pm

Phil is so right, CBC commentors are ****.

Anyways, Tonight watch out for the O’byrne Komisarek pairing. O’byrne is huge but he can skate, hit and he has a shot. Janceski has notthing on him.

#17 PACTUM SERVA says:
September 19, 2006 at 4:20 pm

I also dont speak a word of french but i love RDS.Some ppl just dont understand lol.

#18 jack tornton says:
September 19, 2006 at 5:31 pm

REspect for all those fans that watch hockey in french! This proves how much you guys are down for the team.

This gives more hope to the team in my opinion. Us, Quebecois, are proud to have fans outside the province. And hockey is not only for the actual province, its most likely considered as a culture. You accept and follow it or you don’t you don’t give a damn!

Montreal is not only a team but a portion of our history.

#19 jack tornton says:
September 19, 2006 at 5:32 pm

Guys be ready for the action to begin! ( the war over the 7th spot!)

#20 Snake says:
September 20, 2006 at 2:58 am

I even watch the intermissions. My girlfriend thinks its weird that I watch a couple of guys talk to eachother in french at a desk and I listen to every word. SHe also thinks it is weird that I talk online to other habs fans. WE will call her POISON SNAKE.

#21 gpctc says:
September 20, 2006 at 11:12 am

the link to the off-season conditioning done by Higgins and Komi is back working.. http://www.institute3e.com just click on “play movie”. You will also see Rick DiPietro and Eric Nystrom

GP

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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.