Eastern Promise

How do you follow up one of the most exciting and historic games in Habs history?

A gem like Tuesday’s game is unlikely. Another win and 2 points in the bank is what the Habs need.

The race for 1st in the Division and Conference is still very tight. The Penguins only two points behind the Habs, Senators and Devils. You’d expect the Canadiens to carry that momentum forward and be strong down the stretch in important games like tonight’s.

Less than a week remains until the trade deadline and rumors are all over the place. With only 2 games left before the deadline, tonight could potentially be the last time you see certain player(s) in a Habs uniform.

Related Bookmarks Tags

Tags

habs trade deadline

Leave a Comment

58 Comments

#1 BarrieHabFan says:
February 23, 2008 at 3:24 pm

Probably right HJ. I don’t think Tanguay wants to play in Montreal. And I don’t think Sundin is going to waive his no trade agreement. If Gainey is making a move he is most likely going to get Hossa, or go for the addition of a couple of lesser players to improve the quality of the depth on the team and perhaps fill an area that needs addressing such as penalty killing or faceoffs. Don’t be surprised to see a smaller deal to bring Fedorov, Perrault, or Stoll and possibly the addition of someone who would cost a third or less draft pick such as Recchi. I think the additon of one or two cup winners would be great. Players with playoff experience would be huge for the younger players on the habs.

#2 BarrieHabFan says:
February 23, 2008 at 3:27 pm

I’ve stated several times that I think Ryder will be traded. Even though I though I hope he’s traded so that Montreal gets an upgrade on the top lines I’d like to see him go somewhere where he would do well. Where do you think Ryder would fit in, personally, I think he would do well in Toronto or Calgary.

#3 patrick says:
February 23, 2008 at 3:34 pm

for richards i think it’ll take more then Ryder/Huet, they’re both going to be ufa’s! maybe halak, chipchura, and i don’t know, something else. tampa will be thinking long term.

#4 Senet 1 says:
February 23, 2008 at 3:51 pm

It seems just when we start to write someone off they start playing the way we expected them to play all year. Koivu, Higgins and especially Ryder are prime examples of this. Ryder finally discovers that if he shoots the puck at the net it will go in and so he has started to score. His goal almost helped us pull out another come back last night against Pittsburg. On the other hand Huet did not look good in the net last night there were a couple of pretty soft goals where he just did not control the rebounds. After taking a 4-3 lead we should have won that game, but our defense got a little sloppy where as they should have been protecting that one goal lead in the third. Getting back to Ryder, His market value should have gone up in the last two weeks and maybe since he is a UFA this summer he will have to be moved because after this season I doubt he will want to go through the uncertainty again next year. Hopefully, Gainey can use his good play to his advantage. Now back to Huet, he is a UFA at the end of the year, he sees the writing on the wall with two very good yound goalies in the system. He will not sign with us, that is why I would make a pitch to tampa Bay who needs a goalie maybe we could pry one of their top stars away. Lecavilier would be nice but St. Louis could not hurt. My only problem with everyone but Lacavilier is I have a hard time justifying the salary in or around 6-8M.
Although a as habs fan since the 1950′s I do not think we have a goal tending problem, our yound kids are good and yes they will have some bad games. I would love to see us win the Cup this year but this organization has been gearing toward the 2008-2009 season our 100th anniversary. What better present for the fans than to give them a Cup in the year of our anniversary. That is why I would not trade for Sundin unless he is willing to sign a contract nor would I trade for anyone else if we cannot get a guarantee that they will sign a contract for next year. We do not need rent a players we need to improve towards next year. Any trades should be geared towards improving the team long run not short run.

#5 Senet 1 says:
February 23, 2008 at 4:22 pm

There is only one player out there that may be available that I would consider based on a 7M contract and that is Lacavalier. If we cannot make a trade for him I would not trade for other players if I have to give them that kind of salary.

I am not sure what Hossa is asking in his new contract request but hopefully not more than 5M. I would hate to make a trade for him if I cannot be assured of signing him.

Unfortunately Ryder has to go, I agree he will not sign in Montreal next year.

#6 Don Carnage says:
February 23, 2008 at 4:51 pm

And the days go by!!!

#7 Jaker1 says:
February 23, 2008 at 5:39 pm

Lecavalier is going to be with Tampa For a long time. Part of the reason Tampa is shopping Richards is to free up money to make Vinny a member of the Lightning for life and the other is to re-sign Dan Boyle. Montreal may get him but I think he may be at the end of his career ala Denis Savard. I think Gainey may have to settle for minor deals like Federov. Got a feeling this guy may change dressing rooms tonight if Montreal beats Columbus.Ryder to Columbus.Purely for the playoffs.

#8 habs4ever says:
February 29, 2008 at 10:08 am

Thank goodness most of you are not the GM. The best thing to do with Michael Ryder is to keep him. You never sell low. Ryder’s worth on the market is nothing, we wouldnt get a 3rd round pick for him. The best thing we could do was keep him. You sell high. Always, thats why we should of got rid of Streit. He won’t duplicate this years performance and hes liability defencively. I think he would of brought a very rewarding return. Perhaps Bob plans on signing him, anything over 2.5mill/year is to much.

« Older Comments

Leave a Comment

ShoutBox

Last Message 1 hour, 21 minutes ago

goalie : Any thoughts out there? I watched the Oilers - Red Wings. THAT was excitement.
Senet1 : Gomez Buyout cap hi Scott Gomez buyout from CapGeek.com ◦ 2012-13: $3,523,810 ◦ 2013-14: $4,523,810 ◦ 2014-15: $1,666,667 ◦ 2015-16: $1,666,667 t.
Senet1 : Well I never thought he would see February but here we are and he is still there. The problem is and most people are like this they hate to admit that they made a mistake. A mistake of hiring PG.
goalie : Habs MUST announce that PG is fired well before the trading deadline. The trouble is is that we know we have to change players, we have a lame GM and the new GM coming in will then inherit players that Gauthier gets. FIRE his ass now! I am wondering, do Molson's know how to run an organization. Doesn't seem like it to me at this time.
HabsLoseAgain : Keep it french and keep it real lol
HabsLoseAgain : PG must be blowing jeff molson hard if he still has a job at this point.
HabsLoseAgain : Ans just think guys PG is gonna lead us to the trade deadline bahahahaha Scary eh?
goalie : One could go on adn on about our woes. Get in a new GM whow knows what it takes to win in the NHL (that would be size, skating and puck control Pierre)and try step by step to rebuild. and ... with a new coaching staff also.
goalie : Nice to see you also look at the stats as they don't usually lie. Unfortunately the |Gomez contract absolutely tied the GM's hands. We essentially have a cap of $7 M bveloew the other teams as Gomez may as well be tanning in Mexico. Gionat has NOT been a successful captain. Gill is aging (but at leats he gives 100%) Campoli adn Kaberle have not played as wella s I thought they would.
Senet1 : We need to draft a couple of star forwards who can score and become game breakers. It is hard to get these types of players in trades although Parise is available, so is Bobby Ryan. There is 60 goals a year. Gomez has now gone a full year without scoring a goal. So how much is that $7+ M per goal. So $7M divided by 0 is zero. So you see math does not lie. That is pretty good stat???????
Senet1 : You cannot win games unless with a team like this unless all 20 players I playing well. Even if you have 20 players playing well they still need guidance from the coaches.
Senet1 : PK played a H_ell of a game today Eller played well but had two wingers that were pretty useless on his line. To me there are a lot of positives on this team, put when you do not have any super star scorer like most teams then you need to play as a 20 man team.
Senet1 : We I have to disagree a little, I admit things do not look good, but until the second goal we were outplaying them but not finishing anything, when you look how hard some of the guys were working in the corners to get the puck out front and when they did no body was there to shoot it or deflect it. I thought that our #1 line played really well but when a team only has to worry about shutting down one line it usually is easy. Budia played well, could not fault him on any of the goals. PK played
goalie : is sinking!!!
goalie : ...and that boat
goalie : In other years there would be lots of partivipants on this blog. Our team's performance this season has been a total turn-off even for the bloggers. Mark my words.... we will NEVER know but I would bet my last cent that it will not be easy to sign a new coach in Montreal. This franchise is in deep deep trouble. Ther eare essentially no good veternas to build around, so we;re going to have to try and build using 20 year olds. Oilers tried that and were a complete failure. We're in the same boat
goalie : Can anyone come up with anything positive about our perforance today? I honestly cannot!
goalie : Even laayers like Cole, Pacs. Bourque seemed totally frustrated today. What we are seeng is the result of poor management over the past 5 or so seasons. The job wasnt dopne now we have a team that is probably the easiest team in the NHL to play against!
goalie : At least Deharnais is trying BUTR he is not and never will be a number 1 or even 2 center. When he goes up gainst bigger players he simply can't get anything done offensively. Thisis not to question his effort!
Senet1 : Basically we have one line and Washington was able to shut them down. We need a game breaker, even the other worse teams in the league have a game breaker we do not. Someone to bury the puck.
Senet1 : If you can score goals then eventually the defence and goalies will take care of the other end.
Senet1 : We need to go after goal scorers I would rather lose a game 6-5 and 1-0.
Senet1 : Well if you cannot score which has been our problem all year you cannot win games.
Mats Naslund : sorry - on replay he didn't touch the puck - which is an issue as well, but still as soft as can be in his own end. terrible play that probably does it.
Mats Naslund : BRUTAL giveaway by Kaberle kills the game.. soft as tissue.
Mats Naslund : Cole - dangerous shot.. but blocked again.
Mats Naslund : 18 blocks for WAS today.. all offense has been pretty chippy.
Senet1 : On the day before the trading deadline, I would put Gomez on waivers and see if someone selects him.
Senet1 : Oh better coaching and better attitude with some of the players. Some players like Plekanec seem to be working hard but not accomplishing anything.
Senet1 : Itn't it amazing how a coach has turned that team around. At one time Montreal had more points than they did. I have said it all year, if we could get a coach who could get these guys playing as a team we are a lot better team than we are showing. That is why I do not think that we have to do a lot to turn this team around, it is a matter of better scoring and better defensive systems 5-5. Lets face it you do not have a real bad defence when you have the top PK in the league. The kids are mat
goalie : In our rebuilding for nect year the FIRST things I would work toward is a new power play alignment - even if that means trading a guy like Plex. We need layers who can control the puck and do that thing called score. Then we go from there. Our PP has been the basis of player frustration that has now grown to virtually every apsect of the game.
goalie : Unfortunately for Budaj that was the correct call. Great save. Gomez must be totally embarrassed just like his play has been for the past year.--Yes the Blues are better than the Habs because they are COACHED BETTER not because they have vastly better talent.
Mats Naslund : no shots on that powerplay - if you can call it that.
Mats Naslund : 2 more chances after a brutal PP but they are blocked again.
Mats Naslund : More plekanec on the point?? come on!