Mikhail Grabovsky

This summer the Canadiens quitely signed a young Belarussian named Mikhail Grabovsky.

Get used to that name.

Watch the highlights.

Would you prefer this guy or Mike Ribeiro as a starter and 20 minutes of ice a night?

Will he challenge for a spot this year?

Granted, it’s one highlight reel and you can’t judge a player solely on a few good shifts. But the kid obviously has lots of talent and definitely seems a little more hungry than some of our current Centerman.

Can’t wait to see him in a Habs jersey. Hopefully sooner than later.

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23 Comments

#1 slapshot212 says:
August 22, 2006 at 10:00 pm

Who is Grabovsky? what position does he play? Why is he so touted, and given so much ink? I haven’t heard about him before. If someone has some info about him, please let us know. God knows we could use some more offensive talent. With all the rumours floating around, involving the habs, I wonder if we are going to be making a trade before the deadline. We need to do something about obtaining another centerman! It is absolutely a must!

#2 Sly Vester says:
August 23, 2006 at 12:13 am

well he’s a bellarusian centreman and thats all i know! Maybe he’ll play in the offseason cause he’s supposed to be a pretty talented guy… maybe to center Sammy and Kovy

Is that video link NOT working for anyone else? All i get is sound! BLASTT!!

#3 Sly Vester says:
August 23, 2006 at 12:14 am

by offseason i mean preseason

#4 Saku jr says:
August 23, 2006 at 11:03 am

well sylvester it should work, I’m the one who introduced the video link to this website. Trust me, right now you’re thinking he’s got talent. If you would c this video, you would know he has talent. I’m actually starting to think he has a brighter future than Kostitsyn. Besides, he’s MUCH MUCH MUCH better than Ribeiro.
Samsonov – Grabovsky – Kovalev all the way!!!!!!

#5 Saku jr says:
August 23, 2006 at 11:05 am

Some say he’s the next Datsyuk…
personally, I believe it.

#6 Alestar says:
August 23, 2006 at 1:31 pm

I saw the video…nice.

I just hope they give him a chance and don’t send him to the farm for 2 seasons!

GO HABS GO!

#7 fred says:
August 23, 2006 at 5:48 pm

i couldn’t see the video either

#8 Dragaon says:
August 23, 2006 at 6:24 pm

Video works fine, takes time to load tho,
here’s some stats for yas all

Mikhail Grabovsky
Center
Born Jan 31 1984 — Potsdam, Belarus
Height 5.09 — Weight 172 — Shoots L

Selected by Montreal Canadiens round 5 #150 overall 2004 NHL Entry Draft

— Regular Season — —- Playoffs —-
Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
————————————————————————————–
2003-04 Nizhnekamsk Neftekhimik Russi 44 6 11 17 28 5 0 0 0 4
2004-05 Nizhnekamsk Neftekhimik Russi 60 16 20 36 34 3 2 0 2 2
2005-06 Moscow Dynamo Russi 48 10 18 28 28
————————————————————————————–

#9 HabFanStuckInOttawa says:
August 23, 2006 at 8:52 pm

DUDE! I am pretty psyched about this kid! I agree, he should definately be allowed to play this season, especially if all the offseason moves have already been made. Go Habs Go!!

#10 reality check says:
August 24, 2006 at 2:15 pm

I tried gathering as much as i could find about a dozen Habs prospects on posted it on my blog. If anyone wishes to check it out, the link is:

http://wwwrealitycheckeyesontheprize.blogspot.com/2006/08/futures-so-bright-gotta-wear-shades.html#links

I learned lots and it’s nice to have it all in one place. I will try to keep it up to date. If any of you knowledgable folks have link suggestions or avy other comments, feel free to fire them off to me. TY

#11 stevejur says:
August 24, 2006 at 5:10 pm

Very nice reality check, great layout.

#12 koivufan says:
August 24, 2006 at 6:35 pm

I too love this kid but I think we might have to wait until 2008 to see him in a habs uni. But anything is possible.

#13 Habs#1 says:
August 24, 2006 at 11:21 pm

Great blog reality check. It’s very accurate and not many teams if any can say they have such a wealth of prospects.

Take that Toronto!

(By the way, it’s Erik Johnson, not Ryan that was drafted first overall.)

#14 reality check says:
August 25, 2006 at 8:26 am

Thanks for the kind words guys. I stand corrected on Erik – Ryan J is my paperboy LOL.

I think the Habs are well positioned to pull off a blockbuster deal (if such deals still exist) with all the assets they have. It is going to be a very interesting seasona and I expect the team to be off to the same flying start they had last season before injuries hit.

It’s gonna be fun.

#15 J-Nic says:
August 25, 2006 at 4:42 pm

We won’t see him play this season and probably not the next one too. He is playing in the russian league, and it’s hard to make them play here. You have seen it with Pitsburgh, they got some troubles. When he come here, it’s gonna be to play.

But is he “THAT” good ? From the video highlight he looks like he have some talents, but it’s russian league, far from the NHL. He got 36 points in 60 games with 16 goals and 20 assists in 04-05 and 28 points in 48 games in 05-06 with the dynamo, that’s not that much for that league. I don’t know how much ICE time out there, but there is something weird in my opinion.

And how old is he ? 31 jan 1984 that mean he is already 22.

I hope he get experience, play well and be able to play here cause he have great talent, see the ice well, looks fast with a good acceleration, nice hockey sense too.

#16 Habs Blog says:
August 25, 2006 at 4:47 pm

Wrong. He’s already been signed to a 3 year deal. And that was not the ‘Russian League” it was the 2006 World Championships.

#17 riser8 says:
August 25, 2006 at 8:25 pm

Grabovsky could very well be the surprise dark horse at this years training camp. I have read some quotes from Trevor Timmins regarding this kid; and he really is blessed with elite level speed,vision,as well as an above average shot. Timmins also said he wouldnt be surprised to see him push for a roster spot, but the betting is that Grabovsky will start the season in Hamilton in order to gain some experience with the north american style of play. Contrary to some peoples opinions his stats were impressive in the RSL the last two years. He played as an import (he is from Belarus not Russia)so he had less ice time than a homegrown Russian, as well the RSL is a low scoring league. I am looking forward to seeing this kid play and he really could be something with his fellow countrymen in the not too distant future!

#18 Doogie2K says:
August 27, 2006 at 2:50 am

While one highlight reel from the second division of the WHC is hardly indicative of much, it sure looks good. I’d like to see how he does against some real players, first, before I get too excited, mind you, but…he did a Forsberg on that poor Kazakh goalie. Never saw it coming.

#19 A-WALL says:
August 27, 2006 at 10:06 am

I think the habe will do well this season they have all the tools to take home the presidents trophy as well as the cup.. and this bellrussian superstar will probably take over the league

#20 Patrice says:
August 28, 2006 at 10:20 am

Hi

Some info about that Bielorussian player are available on this web link :
http://hockeysfuture.com/prospect/mikhail_grabovsky

#21 david tourout says:
September 7, 2006 at 11:39 pm

this story is realy great thanks

#22 david tourout says:
September 8, 2006 at 12:26 am

i watched the video this guy is fast and got great hands .wooooooow you can watch the video go to habsblog.com to see it go habs go

#23 Paul Spiller says:
October 5, 2006 at 12:03 pm

Who!?? Trade him!

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Senet1 : It will be interesting to see how Sutter does because to me the Oilers are not his kind of team, but then again neither were the Flames.
goalie : I don't know when they'll announce it but the Oilers will be signing Sutter (Flames ex-coach) to coach their team - that's why Kevin Lowe chose him to coach in the World's. That was the world's worst kept secret.
Senet1 : I guess I wish we could get it done so all the speculating was over and we can get to building out team.
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.