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Canadiens Roster

  • With the Mats Sundin drama over and the rather unexpected signing of Robert Lang, how will the new Canadiens look when they hit the ice October 10th?

    Who makes the roster? Who plays with who? Does the addition of Lang cancel out any slim chance of a rookie making the team?

    A surplus of talent is a good problem to have, where do the pieces all fit?

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128 Comments
  1. #1 STUO11 says:
    September 26, 2008 at 3:11 pm

    to tell u the truth I have been drinking, and It might sound stupid, but I just have a bad feeling but now that I think about it even with the injuries our lines are still almost as good as Pittsburgh’s so yea, sorry about my post. but If we do get a lot of injuries, I hope It’s during the season and not playoffs lol

  2. #2 alias says:
    September 26, 2008 at 3:43 pm

    Here’s the linup tonight according to http://www.habsinsideout.com

    Andrei Kostitsyn – Tomas Plekanec – Alex Kovalev
    Max Pacioretty – Ben Maxwell – Sergei Kostitsyn
    Gregory Stewart – David Desharnais – Matt d’Agostini
    Steve Bégin – Maxim Lapierre – Tom Kostopoulos

    Andrei Markov – Ryan O’Byrne
    Josh Gorges – P.K. Subban
    Alex Henry – Yannick Weber

    Jaroslav Halak and Marc Denis are the goaltenders.

    So they have the #1 line back together (notice Kovy is back from his minor groin injury) , and line 2 could be our future #1 line in 3 years or so. These defense pairings interest me as well….this should be a good game to watch.

  3. #3 groundworking says:
    September 26, 2008 at 6:42 pm

    Is this exhibition game on TV or the net tonight?

  4. #4 Senet1 says:
    September 26, 2008 at 8:29 pm

    I would like to know what so many of you have against Crosby. He is a great player, and far more mature than you give him credit for, when he was 18 he did not have a choice he was told to live with Mario. How many young players who have great potential screw up their lives with booze etc because they have no supervision. I expect he will be making a move sometime this year to finding a place with one of his buddies. But lets face it if it had not been for Crosby, Pittsburg would not have won any games against Detroit. He proved his was the more playoff ready player when it came time for the big show too bad the rest of his team did not show up.

  5. #5 habknot says:
    September 26, 2008 at 8:31 pm

    Stuo11; The habs pre-season schedule is crazy. This is just a way for the organizations to make money by selling tickets. I think Carbo is just protecting his players who have minor twinges. If this was regular season I think most [if not all] the injuries would disappear. Plus, I agree with pactum, we have depth to ride out MINOR injuries. Anyway, I’m a sports fan like you; and there is no way to be a sports fan without being a little {a LITTLE?} superstitious; so please, no more talk of injuries – except about other teams :-) .

    BTW, I think Ottawa has done interesting things on defense, have real grinding 3rd and 4th lines. If their big guns can score, they could return to previous form. Their Achilles heel remains between the pipes. They could use Halak ;-)

  6. #6 Senet1 says:
    September 26, 2008 at 8:35 pm

    I wonder what kind of career Alexandre Daigle would have had if he had a mentor like Mario Lemieaux?? Get off his case some guys make the move when they are ready and maybe he feels comfortable under Mario’s roof or maybe Mario still wants him there?

  7. #7 Senet1 says:
    September 26, 2008 at 8:40 pm

    Well with Buffalo and Toronto not looking too good, I expect that Ottawa and Boston will be a close second and third behind our habs. Boston will be much better this year with more scoring punch and therefore harder to beat. Ottawa will have enough talent to stay close.

  8. #8 alias says:
    September 26, 2008 at 9:39 pm

    whoops i meant tomorrow’ roster, not tonight….the game is on tsn2 if you get that

  9. #9 habknot says:
    September 27, 2008 at 1:33 am

    Yeah, well Murray Wilson was saying that tough Ottawa D I was talking about just looked slow tonight [just one game, but I'm not losing sleep over Ottawa's problems]. Both Boston and Philly are a concussion away from misery. Its really sad to say, but that is one injury that never really goes away.

  10. #10 tom says:
    September 27, 2008 at 2:11 pm

    hey guys. Im currently in the process of writing for a website about the canadiens rivalry with the bruins. Im trying to pick the top 2 habs goaltenders of all-time to write about. Im having trouble picking between Patrick Roy, Ken Dryden, and Jacques Plante. I was wondering if you guys could let me know who you think is the best montreal canadiens goaltender of all time.

  11. #11 habknot says:
    September 27, 2008 at 6:09 pm

    Tom
    count the cups :-)

  12. #12 alias says:
    September 27, 2008 at 6:29 pm

    Roy & Plante

    Roy is the best of all-time out of all the goalies and Brodeur is the only one that can challenge that….he changed the way goalies play the game today. And Plante, the guy dominated his era….nobody even came close. 6 cups in 10 years with the Habs. First goaltender to play the puck outside of the crease and probably best leader of the 3.

  13. #13 STUO11 says:
    September 27, 2008 at 11:17 pm

    guys, I say alot of stupid things, after I comment, I always regret 5 minutes later(what the **** am I thinking) I usually just get a little too worried, but yeah even with our injuries Ottawa over Montreal? get out of here!lol Montreal is oging to win the cup this year.

  14. #14 groundworking says:
    September 27, 2008 at 11:34 pm

    I wonder how long until Lang picks up the team’s work ethic?

    Tom: that’s a tough question. Why two? Dryden has the most impressive stats, Plante has the most cups, and Roy did more than either Dryden or Plante to change the way that goalies play hockey. Plante invented the mask, but Roy invented the way that all current NHL goalies play the game.

    Really hard to say. I agree with alias about Roy, for sure, b/c Roy was the only one of the three who won the Stanley Cup virtually single-handed–he didn’t have the team in front of him that Dryden and Plante had. Just MHO.

  15. #15 alias says:
    September 28, 2008 at 12:01 am

    plus roy is the only player…not just goalie, player….to win 3 conn smythe’s. Plante also revolutionzed the game with the mask like groundworking said, and being the first to play the puck changing once again, the way goaltender’s play the game. No longer could the goalie be the worst skater on the team, he had to be able to skate and control the puck well. Dryden may have the better stats but stats are hard to go by when comparing players from different era’s. Looking at a goalie who played in the high scoring 80′s will look much worse on paper than a goalie playing in 03-04 when scoring was at its lowest point since 1955-56. Plante has 7 Vezina’s to Dryden’s 5, he is the only one of the 3 to win a Hart trophy. While Dryden was a great tender, he is 3rd on this list.

  16. #16 groundworking says:
    September 28, 2008 at 9:38 am

    Yeah, I agree with Alias. Tough question though.

  17. #17 habknot says:
    September 28, 2008 at 10:52 am

    Goalies:
    There’s a trophy for goalies named after a pretty good one. Vezina was the first NHL goalie to record a shutout, to record a point, to win a cup with the Canadien. The Chicoutomi Cucumber was noted for his cool control of the game in a era when goalies were not allowed to go down to stop the play. This game of comparing eras is dangerous, but I feel we tend to overrate the current generation because they are bigger, play with incredibly advanced technology [not the least of which is ice-making], train endlessly; but most importantly ‘stand on the shoulders of giants’ [Isaac Newton] No Vezina- no Plante: no Plante, no Dryden: no Dryden- no Roy.

  18. #18 STUO11 says:
    September 28, 2008 at 5:05 pm

    I can’t wait for the playoffs to come, I wish I could just fast foward through time lol

  19. #19 Senet1 says:
    September 28, 2008 at 11:50 pm

    Firstly, I would agree with alias and pick Plante and Roy. but having the pleasure of actually seeing all three of these goalies in action, I would not agree that Roy changed the game more than Plante, true more goalies play the way Roy plays today but also if you consider that Plante did two very important things he brought the mask in for goalies of which not one would play without one today even if they were allowed to and he also was the first to leave his net and play the puck of which every goalie does today as well. Roy basically invented the butterfly style of goaltending, sometimes we tend to forget some of the old time goalies. You cannot compare atheletes from different generations but Plante had every bid as much influence on goaltending in his era as Roy did in his.

    One other thing, if anyone of you watched 1970-1971 series between the Bruins and Habs you would not say that Roy was the only one you won the games single handled. Remember this was a team that had Orr, Espo and company and they totally dominated the Habs in almost every game yet they could not beat Dryden, because of his play he won the Conn Smythe trophy. Montreal had a good not great team that year, they were still building toward their four year run at the cup which did not start until 1976.

  20. #20 Senet1 says:
    September 28, 2008 at 11:53 pm

    Good Point and well said.

  21. #21 Senet1 says:
    September 28, 2008 at 11:55 pm

    Sorry I was commenting on Habknot goalies comments

  22. #22 alias says:
    September 30, 2008 at 9:58 pm

    Lats hanging out in front of the net, looking good….this could be his year!

  23. #23 habs 4 me says:
    September 30, 2008 at 10:43 pm

    Pacioretty is the man! he’s staying, no doubt about it. He’s got all the tools, skates. checks, scores, hits. Lapierre pack your bags! There’s a new guy taking your place. But perhaps Begin, Lats, or Dandy is being demoted. Anyways Pac is here to stay!

  24. #24 Donnie says:
    September 30, 2008 at 11:21 pm

    Pacioretty should stay before at least 3 or 4 guys who are there now and were last year.
    Good game tonight against Detroit. Price played awesome, alot of big names for both teams not there…ah well, wait for regular season.

  25. #25 alias says:
    October 1, 2008 at 8:43 am

    problem is if Patches stays there’s no way he should be on the 4th line, that will not help his development at all [playing on a checking role and seeing 10 minutes or less a game. The best thing for him is ice time, and he may not see that in Montreal just yet. The only player he should be booting out is Latendresse. Patches-Lang-S.Kost would also be a sick line. Begin & Dandy were gonna be demoted anyways, and LaPierre only has Chipchura to worry about (which is a big worry now considering the pre-season Chips is having) In my mind there’s 2 battles…
    Pacioretty vs. Latendresse
    LaPierre vs. Chipchura

    Weber is also making it tough, he could slide in there as well and has shown he could fill Streit’s shoes on the PP this year.

  26. #26 25in100 says:
    October 1, 2008 at 11:21 am

    I agree with alias. He should not be playing on the 4th line of the habs, as he deserves 1st line on Hamilton, or even another NHL team, if a trade is worth it for them, but that I doubt. Latendresse is not improving at a very good pace, and I’ve heard that he’s lost a little weight to improve his speed.. but it is still not showing. I think that Chipchura is having a great pre-season as well, but I do NOT think that Yannick Weber should make the team. He made glaring mistakes last night in the game against Detroit and I think he would be great for Hamilton for this upcoming year. Also… where is Higgins in the pre-season? Haven’t seen him yet.

  27. #27 groundworking says:
    October 1, 2008 at 2:20 pm

    In my mind there’s 2 battles…
    Pacioretty vs. Latendresse
    LaPierre vs. Chipchura

    I couldn’t agree more. I’ve not been a big fan of Latendresse. I think he has to blossom early this year or they’ll either demote him or trade him. I don’t think Chipchura is ready either, though he might be at the half-way mark of the season.

    In any case, it doesn’t seem to me that Latendresse or LaPierre are having the preseason that they need to have in order to stay on the team. I remember last year, though, that Lapierre started in the AHL and then worked hard to get back to the NHL. Does anyone else sense that he’s currently playing with a sense of entitlement?

    Oh, and by the way, Brisebois will be on coaching staff by the first week of November. There’s no way he can keep up this year.

  28. #28 Senet1 says:
    October 1, 2008 at 7:36 pm

    I would reward Pacioretty for his good camp and keep him up for 8-10 games to see how he does against the big boys. If he proves he belongs then he is on one of the first three lines. Latendresse as I have said many times needs a wakeup call and needs to be sent down before he plays 8 more games to avoid waivers. I cannot give up on him just yet we have had this conversation too many times, you do not give up on a 20 year old power forward who is showing slow improvement. Generally the big guys tend to develop slower. If he is not showing signs of improvement in 2 years then we make the decision but not at 20 years old.

    I keep chipchura and Lappiere and if anything I made a couple of guys to make room for them. Chipchura could go down and let him work his way back up as well.

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  • goalie : Didn't get to see the game at all but it's great to see Pacs get a hat trick and fpor Cole to be + 3. When was the last time this team won three games in a row? Great victory -looks like they're giving 100% effort!
  • Senet1 : 4-2 win habs
  • Senet1 : Gomez scores, Yea!!!
  • goalie : As I said yesterday it will be interesting to see what our lame ass GM gets for players he ships out. Bourque is good and he'll help us but I still think we could have gotten more for him and for Halak when he was traded.
  • Avatar37 : round those picks occur (probably 3rd).
  • Avatar37 : An interesting article. If we slip to the 5th or 7th draft pick, a very interesting case could be made for drafting Galchenyuk. If we wind up with the second or third pick, I'm not sure who I'd draft, because clearly Yakupov is going to be drafted first overall. Our second round pick also becomes interesting, I know I'd take Vasilevski if he were still available. It will also be interesting to see if we can turn some of our veteran players (Moen, Gill, Campoli) into draft picks, and what
  • Avatar37 : «link»
  • Avatar37 : That is why PG should have waited on trading Cammalleri. Right now, there is a high demand for a top 6 forward, we could have gotten much more than Bourque in return. That isn't a knock against Bourque, but a knock against a knee-jerk reaction trade that didn't maximize our return on a top asset.
  • Avatar37 : «link»
  • Avatar37 : chips fall where they may. After all, the only difference between finishing 17th and 29th is how good a pick you get in the draft.
  • Avatar37 : We currently sit in 26th place in the league. We are 15 points ahead of Columbus, it's safe to bet at this point they will place last. We are, however, only 4 points ahead of Edmonton so it's still wide open as to who is going to finish second last. I still think that it's time to sit the veterans, play the youth, let them get experience, and regroup for next year. I'm not suggesting deliberately tanking like the Penguins, but give all our young players lots of playing time and let the c
  • Avatar37 : goalie - If it were not for the play of Cammalleri, we would never have made it out of round 1. Cammalleri played as big a part, if not bigger, than Halak did. Sure, Halak played well, but remember the team collapsed in front of him, making his job much easier. We had lots of blocked shots and the ones that got through were typically from the outside.
  • Senet1 : Goalie you are absolutely right, of course the one thing we had the two previous years that won the games that we are losing this year was our power play. If you look at say 10 games that we should have won had we had a similar power play, again we would not be having these conversations. When your PP goes from first to last in the league that is a lot of goals.How many games have we lost this year by one goal. Again poor management who did not prepare for Markov's possible absence.
  • goalie : I'll put it another way.... we need more players who are willing to get their noses dirty.
  • goalie : Two years ago when our goaltending stole series adn our players suddenly scored the coaches / GM believed that that was our true team . Well time has proven that was not. Though I was very glad to see the Habs knock off some very good teams we were very fortunate. And fortunate that spring was spelled HALAK!
  • goalie : The wrst mistake management could possibly make I believe is to say, we played well some games and we believe the team can play to that level more often in the future. This team CANNOT adnb DOES NOT play to a high enough level. Please do not kid yourself mamngement. hat is partially why we're in the lace we are.
  • goalie : Senet is correct when he says that if we had more games with a better efort this year we'd likely be in the playoffs. It has been very inconsistent effort but much more than that. We lack big, tough playing and finishing. Never mind fighting for a moment. We did not compete for the pucks nor along the boards nor in front of both nets enough this year. Thus we are in 29th. If the coaching staff doesn't see that then they shouldn't be there.
  • Senet1 : Surely Molson is not going to keep him as the GM?
  • Senet1 : when he knows he will be fired at the end of the season. Nothing really makes since in this whole process.
  • Senet1 : I am not sue why PG has not been fired by now. They could be waiting for another GM to come available at season end, but why would you not set up a committee to manage the team in the short run until a new GM can be named. There is no since in chaning coaches because whoever the GM is he will want to name his own coach. Gainey and a committe of other executives can manage the team through to the trading deadline and onward. What motivation does PG have to making any worthwhile trades when he is
  • Senet1 : I am too mch of a competitor to want my team to tank to. However, If these players played like they ae cabable of playing all year we would not be having this discussion right now, we woud be talking about the playoffs and who we would rather meet in the first round.
  • rocky : Exactly, and Senet nails it when he says we have not had an elite top 5 in the nhl player since lafleur.
  • goalie : I too want the Habs to get the best possible draft this June. We all need SOME hope!
  • rocky : He is persona non grata in habville, and a ghost in every sense of the term.
  • goalie : It remains a miracle how we have heard from our mighty GM twice since Christmas - the trades involving Spacek and Cammy and those comments were extremely brief. PG just does not cut it in my world. Part of a GMs job is to go public from time to time. PG never does that in fact he's a ghost GM!
  • rocky : Its true, there is no honor in that. These guys have only known the ethic of giving it all to win every night. I do not want them to "tank", and they will never do that anyway. I do want them to lose though, as awful as it sounds.
  • goalie : Roicky as a good point. We all want the Habs to get a really good draft pick. However, players, coaches etc. also have a keen desire to compete and win. That's why they're playing at the pro level. Thus we can only hope that the team plays some good games and let the chips fall where they may. After the disasterous season we've had let's not lower ourselves adn get involved in any dscussions about 'tanking' games.
  • rocky : So long.
  • Senet1 : Good discussion rocky, I have to step out for an hour, but may be back later.
  • Senet1 : The only way this team comes back to a team with long term potential is to draft a game breaker. Even all the other bad teams have a Stamkos or a player like him. He have some good player so what we need is a Malkin that we can count on 80% of the time to win a game for us.
  • rocky : I mean winning will only do them harm that is.
  • rocky : It really hurts because my reflexes make me want to cheer like mad, but it will only hurt the team now.
  • Senet1 : Yes I have mixed feeling when watching the game. Last night I say here we go again. with our record of shoot losses I did not expect to win that one. Yet I wanted to win real bad?????
  • rocky : God, so horrible to sit and hope for losses, but here we are.
  • Senet1 : Our problem is we play one out of every 4 games good and therefore, we play well enough to stay on the borderline of a top five pick. If we win three or four in a row we could take ourselves right out of the running.

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