Lucic is 19, and somehow he is the heart of this team. He inspires EVERYONE to hit harder. He will be the face of this franchise in a short team.

We’ll give you Ryder for him.

Maybe only Carey Price could make a deal.

Price is the only first class NHLer in Montreal.

Reversely looking, nothing can be valued enough to trade Price from Habs!!!

Kovalev was a first class NHLer; fortunately he is this season; he would be no more from next season, who knows.

So, based on Price, adding some “motivating” players to the roster, Habs will be remaining as a super power in the Eastern Conference for the coming years.

(Komi is a motivator in the defense line; but we really need a native English speaking motivator in the OFFENSIVE line)

Joseph, I’m with you man. I do love to see a smooth skating, stick handling European on my team. But, that team should be led by at least one veteran North American, or better a good solid core of 3 North Americans with heart.

My thinking is this…North American hockey players are raised with the thought that Lord Stanley’s cup is the ultimate prize in life. I could be wrong, but I don’t think that European kids think about the Stanley Cup as much growing up as we do. I don’t think it means the same to them. Sure, they realize that is the sign of hockey supremacy in the NHL…but to North American kids, I think it’s much more than that.

I would have bet the house that the Habs would win the whole thing this year before this series. You guys have the right piece to build around, Price, but Kovalev and Koivu are on the way out, and the youngs you have, just do not have tremendous upside potential. Kostitsyn is willfully allowing himself to be a rag-doll in this series.

Well as usual I am joining the discussions late so I have a few comments to catch up on. Joseph I understand what you are saying about game six but there is one difference. Montreal did not have to win that game and Boston did. That is what I mean, Boston showed their character because they had no choice,Montreal had a choice but made the wrong one.

Someone mentioned that Cargo is a bad coach well I sorry I cannot agree, is he the best coach no, had he learned a lot i expect so, but he still coach the team he was given to a conference title, it is not his fault he has too many Euro in his line up, he did not draft them. I will take carbo as a coach any time.

As far as Kovalev being a contributing factor to the NYR cup no one could disagree but this is one thing different. He had four or five very strong northamerican players on the team and there was no better Leader than Messier. He does not have that on this team and with his experience he should be one of those leaders and he is not doing his job.

As far as the risk reward trade of Huet, there were two risks, One Huet may come back to play us in the playoffs and beat us and two if we do not trade him we lose him as a FA at the end of the year. So yes the draft pick is a reward and all you have to do is look at the players that Montreal has drafted in the late round and you will see that many of them are currently play on the team. Montreal has not had the luxury of drafting high but they are one of the best teams at drafting in he late round with success.

Andy, your analysis of the number of Euro players on each team is fairly correct with one exception, Boston’s leadership is comming mostly from Northamerican players whereas Montreal’s supposed leaders are Euros.

BarrieHabFan, you stated my exact feelings, I have been saying all along that this team was being built for their 100th aniversary year, this team needs this playoff to gain the experience. So regardless of what happens you are right, this team is one step closer.

Well stated Joseph, I am on side with your statment regarding the Euro mix with NA players but as you said the most important thing is NA leadership.

Personally, I like our young Euro players, both Kost, and Plekanic. I feel that they have played a little inconsistent but Plekanic has played well the last two games and lets not forget, he is a centreman and he is looking for Kovalev who seems to be hiding most of the time. Andre plays with passion but he is not a playmaker and needs someone to feed him the puck. Usually Kovalev sends him his passes but again no one knows were Kovalev is these days. Hopefully he finds his way to the area for Monday nights game. I agree with what Joseph said, you need a good mix of Euros and NA players, our problem is that five of our top six forwards are Euros we need that mix to me closer to half.

BarrieHabsfan. all I am saying is Huet was not going to be back next year and Price needed the experience in the Playoffs if he was going to lead this team in the future. All you have to do is look at the teams line up and there are not many 1st or 2nd round draft picks but there are a number of 3rd, 4th an 5th round picks that have made this team and many of the are North American players. As I have said this team matured a little earlier than the management system expected but this team would not learn anything with Huet in goal especially when he would not sign here next year.

If we are lucky enough to reach the conference finals, and play Pittsburg we probably stand a better chance of beating them than we do Boston, one thing for sure, Crobsy will not be throwing his weigh aroung, this team plays more like Montreal the obvious difference is they have super star players and we are lacking in that department. Having said that many teams have great players and they do not win the cup because they play a team rather than a group of individuals. My one worry other than leadership has been how consistent our defence will be, you Know that markow would play better against a team that is not hammering him into the boards all the time and I expect Kovalev might reappear as well,

The question to you Senet 1: How was your prediction for the past 6 games? ALL correct? ALL wrong? Mostly correct? or Mostly wrong?

Well I have learned over the years to trust in the ghost of habs pasts, you may see the Rocket play tomorrow night but he may be in someone elses body???????????

I just wish you had better prediction stats for the past 6 games for me to believe.

Honestly, I have never predicted a final score. But from the situation both team are facing and Habs have the home game, I would predict an insanely brutal offensive battle with a lot of power play chances for both teams. I would predict Habs win 4:2.

BTW, agreed most of your opinions. GO HABS GO!!!

An open letter to the Montreal Canadiens:

Montreal. Canadiens. Habs.

I’m afraid that I have to come clean with you. I have to tell you something that hurts me deeply. I have to tell you that I’ve been seeing someone else. Now, before you get angry, please – just hear me out. I’ve been seeing the Calgary Flames, and I’ve been liking what I’ve been seeing, Habs. They’re just so passionate and entertaining that I couldn’t help myself. As I sat there feeling guilty and ashamed, I kep telling myself “This is wrong, Joseph. This is just wrong!” But it feels so good, Habs. They make me feel so alive. They understand my needs as a fan. (And I do have needs, you know.) They show me that they care to make my relationship with them work, at any cost. They are willing to sacrifice themselves to see that it does. They even dive in front of pucks for me, Habs. When’s the last time that you did that? I know what you’re thinking, but just let me finish. Please. It’s not you, it’s me. No, that’s not entirely true. It is you. This is your fault. You and I have had a relationship for a very long time, Habs, and it used to be amazing, but you’ve lost that passion that you used to have. You no longer seem to care about my needs as a fan, and it hurts, Habs. It really hurts. All you ever want to do these days is serve me crêpes and tell me to be sit by the waterfront and be patient. But I’m sick of being patient, Habs. I’m just a red-blooded American kid with a need for desire and passion. The Flames understand that. Oh, they do. Just let me finish. Do you know what the Flames served me tonight? Do you? They served me ribs, Habs. I mean, what more could this North American kid ask for? Ribs! I’m so confused, Habs. I’m so torn between what we used to be and what the Flames are offering me now. But listen. This doesn’t have to be the end. It doesn’t have to be this way at all. You could change. You could show me that you mean what you say when you say that you care to make me feel alive again. It wouldn’t take much. A few less crêpes and few more ribs on the menu would be a great start. That’s all I would ask. And then we could be happy again, like we used to be. I could watch you throw everything on the line just to make me feel good again. And perhaps even one day, we could sit and drink out of that big silver Cup that has been passed down to you through the generations. Think about, Habs. Think about who you used to be. For you. For me. For us.

Pricless Joseph,just priceless lol

Actually, I think it will a very low scoring game, very tight checking, because nobody wants to make a mistake. Everyone please say a prayer for our habs. they need it.

Holy Hockey Gods who Hold the Cup,
Please be Nice to the Habs.
Please Deliver them some Heart,
Some Grit and Determination.
For the Gods Know that they Need It.
For the Gods Know that they Don’t Have It,
Or at Least that they Haven’t Shown It.

Am I watching the wrong series? I think the officiating has been horrible, and more often than not in the favor of the Canadiens.

while i totally agree with you guys that kovalev sucked this last game, but i have to remind you that this is how he played sometimes before. he is non consistent, but all his bashers were willing to accept that in regular season while he was scoring. he is not having a good series, that’s true, but the problem with kovy is that people want him to be something different than he is. you can’t expect him to be steve izerman, because he is not him. he is talented finesse player and he can be nasty when somebody gets him mad (remember elbow on tucker?), but he is not a leader, at least i don’t see that. he is playing or trying to play his style of game which fitted a lot of fans while he was producing. boston doesn’t let him do that and he seems to be lost and unable to adjust. it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t want to or not upset and frustrated.
as for lack of emotions, being from the same country and same age as him, i can relate to this. it’s not about not having emotions, it’s about not showing them and it is a product of environment in which we were raised, i wish i was more of southern personality – all cheers and smiles, but i’m not. our world was quite different from yours. my kids are different being raised in north america. but it doesn’t mean we don’t have heart or not willing to sacrifice. that’s kinda funny as whole russian mentality is about sacrificing.

russian players of older generation played different hockey on bigger surfaces where it is not as physical, it was a different game. also, while in training the accent was more on skills development, less on playing games and achiving result like here. if you are not accustomed to getting a win every day you train all the years of your training, then you won’t change magically one day once you come to north america. it doesn’t mean all europeans are soft, there are examples of pretty tough guys – d. markov, volchenkov, ovechkin, but some of them are of younger generation.
it just some of those guys were raised playing different game, some learn being more gritty and some don’t. as for getting rid of them, i sure recommend getting some “tough” guys from ottawa team. they still carry an image of soft team, even though their “euro” days are long over and the toughest guy is russian – volchenkov. no offense to canadians, i love and respect canadian players, but i love and respect some europeans too. but to be a leader you have to be born a leader, and kovalev is not one of them. and bure wasn’t one of them and mogilny too. ovechkin is, but he seems to be lost sometimes too.

i still hope habs can pull this off, losing this series would be very dissapointing after very good season that had.

I saw the sign that Montreal will win tonight.

A Leafs Fan here at work who hates Montreal, put RED streaks through her hair. I said; “I like your Red streaks. You just brought Montreal some much needed luck”!

That was the sign. For a Leafs Fan to put Red streaks in her hair…..