Patrick Traverse

It didn’t take long for the Canadiens to address their defensive concerns.

How they did it however, is a bit surprising.

Patrick Traverse was claimed off waivers to return to Montreal where he played from 2000-2003.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM

2002-2003 Canadiens 65 0 13 13 -9 24
2001-2002 Canadiens 25 2 3 5 -7 14
2000-2001 Canadiens 19 2 3 5 -8 10

Was this the right move given the circumstances?

There is a strange feeling about this. With all the new youth and progress the Habs have made recently, signing a mediocre player from our past mediocre seasons takes away from the excitement and feel surrounding the new team.

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20 Comments

#1 PACTUM SERVA says:
September 28, 2006 at 3:03 pm

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

#2 MAB82 says:
September 28, 2006 at 3:53 pm

YAY !!!!

THE FORMERS HABS PYLON IS BACK GREAT NEWS FOR OPPOSING TEAMS BAD NEWS FOR HUET!

GREAT JOB GAINEY

#3 Razz says:
September 28, 2006 at 4:01 pm

Yeah! Great move Bob! Signing a mediocre defenceman because he is french!
On the other hand, when Souray and Boullion get healthy he will be down in the minors, where he might help develop the younger guys. It’s not like he will earn a very big salary (obviously well under a million). He is a patch for the next month or two, till the others get back.

#4 Habs Blog says:
September 28, 2006 at 4:52 pm

test

#5 Oct.21 - - - - The Return Of THEO!! says:
September 28, 2006 at 8:50 pm

And just when I thought Gainey couldnt get any stupider

#6 Phil says:
September 28, 2006 at 9:07 pm

Guys down on Gainey…get a life one with purpose…one that counts..jeez..I believe it was a smart move period…If you don’t get it, hell cheer for the LAFFS!!What a bunch of jumpers!!

#7 Jack _Tornton says:
September 28, 2006 at 9:11 pm

This is a joke…
I think Patrick Traverse was the worst defenceman we ever aquired! History stays history except if Bob wants to expand the history! lol

#8 t8ter says:
September 28, 2006 at 9:38 pm

Hey Jack, Do you remember a guy named patrice???

#9 Jack _Tornton says:
September 28, 2006 at 11:19 pm

t8ter:

You mean Patrice Brisebois??

#10 superfan says:
September 29, 2006 at 10:41 am

worst move ever.

#11 koivufan says:
September 29, 2006 at 5:04 pm

i’m a gainey fan but what the hell were you thinking

#12 snake says:
September 29, 2006 at 7:23 pm

At least we didnt sign Murray Baron.

#13 snake says:
September 29, 2006 at 7:24 pm

I remember Traverse socred this beauty one night where he split the defence. I remember thinking “wow”. Maybe that was a dream.

#14 t8ter says:
September 29, 2006 at 7:44 pm

Yes thats the same guy Jack, Traverse will have to go a long way to beat him!

#15 Habs Fan says:
September 30, 2006 at 9:49 pm

Canadiens Acquire Niinimaa From Stars for Ribeiro

#16 Habs heartland 1 says:
September 30, 2006 at 10:43 pm

Well, now that we have acquired Niinimaa from Dallas,Patrick can traverse his way back down to the minors. I don’t understand Gainey. If you’re going to trade for Niinimaa, why go and get Traverse? The money spent on Traverse, could have gone for an offensive player, right? Makes no sense! Does our GM have all his marbles? We don’t need 2 more defenceman, WE NEED ANOTHER CENTERMAN! Please sign an offensive player who can play center! We are very, very, very, weak at that position. What we don’t need is another Traverse, or should I say, Breeze Bye, as in Brisebois! If Koivu gets injured, is Traverse going to play center ice? really, what are you thinking!

#17 t8ter says:
October 1, 2006 at 11:03 am

What kind of offensive player who can play center and that could fill in for Koivu (not that anything more will ever happen to him) could you get right now for say $450,000? The way Montreal is losing defence men and the lack of them right now that are available, I would think having an extra would be wise. Goalies and defence hold there value. Don’t be so quick to panic, GO HABS!!!

#18 jay says:
October 1, 2006 at 2:46 pm

It’s a good thing we have medicare in this country, what with all of you getting whiplash from JUMPING ON AND OFF THE BANDWAGON SO QUICKLY!!! ease up and chill out..let the season start ~GO HABS GO!

#19 Reality Check says:
October 1, 2006 at 4:51 pm

No team ever has enough depth defenseman. Witness Buffalo against Carolina in last seasons playoffs. With Bouillon, Souray, and Cote on the sidelines, the Habs D was looking mighty thin. Gainey needed to make both these moves. Traverse has a minor league contract and will see action in maybe a dozen Habs games this season at most, making him an efficient replacement for 6 or 7 minutes per game.

Gainey traded from a position of depth to get Niinimaa, who has 700 plus games experience in the league. A decent upgrade at the 6th D position, I think.

At center, the Canadiens have much youth to move around in that spot. What we saw from Plekanec on Saturday ought to assure folks that it was a smart move. Higgins can also move there as well as Begin. With 6 centerman in the lineup nightly, we have a multitude of combination we can ice.

Most of you questioning Gainey in here are as clueless as Leafs fans. He aquired Traverse prior to Niinimaa, not after. Second guessing is for those who can’t make a point. Gainey likely would not have picked up PT after this trade, but when a player with a certain usefullness becomes available via waivers, there is only a small time frame for picking him up at no cost. In this case PT will be left unprotected at the start of the season and probably never land in Montreal at all. No big sweat for all concerned any way you slice it.

#20 smiler2729 says:
October 3, 2006 at 12:17 pm

Traverse will love Hamilton.

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muller93 : MB is forced to go out and get a big D-man. Missing Emelin for almost half the season is the last thing we needed to hear. Now going out and getting a big D-man is a MUST!!!
muller93 : Now for the Fu**en Bruins who have no business even being in the second round are going to get a nice rest. Yes the same goons who took out one of best D-man for 6 more months. There is NO Fu**en justice. Just venting--Ok i feel better now.
muller93 : So pissed to see the Rangers lay down and play like total crap. How did the Rangers beat the Caps? This team is playing with no heart--a must win and can only muster 23 shots...PATHETIC !!!
muller93 : Senet I did see Galchenyuks goal--Made a great move for the game winner. You can see the kid has so much confidence.
goalie : If Rangers get swept I wonder if Tortorella will get his walking papers? Or Glen Sather? They have tons of 'talent' but zero wins in this series.
goalie : It's really too bad we lost to the Sens as we would have played the Rangers and the way NYR are playing we would have beat them too. If only. If only!
Senet1 : Actually I agree it was a good move for them to play a shorter season and get the experience. He could not have played in the minors this year he would have had to play junior or the NHL. However, he now has a year under him and knows what to expect next year and hopefully take a bigger responsibility on the team. Did you see those two goals in the bronze game? Wow.
muller93 : Good move by the Habs not having Galchenyuk play in the minors. Now Galchenyuk has 1 year in the NHL and playoff experience this is going to pay off big time come next year.
Senet1 : Galchenyuk scores to back to back goals in shoot out to help USA win Bronze metal. I did not see the second goal but the first was a beauty.
Senet1 : So we could pick anywhere from 25th to 23rd depending on who wins these quarter final series.
Senet1 : First, is the 14 teams in the lottery. Then there are 12 teams that did not make the semi finals in the order of the seasonal finish, Then there are the four teams in the semi final the first two eliminated pick in the order of the regular season points total and the last two based on who wins and who loses the cup. So as it stand now if say Detroit beats Chicago then Detroit moves up to pick after us. Boston or NYR will move up and pick after us. LA or San Jose will move up and pick after us
Senet1 : Basically, I was wrong about the draft pick situation. There are three groups of drafting teams within the 30 teams.
Senet1 : seriously ready to challenge for the cup. He will us win games but he will not be the difference between winning the cup and not winning the cup. You pick up players like that once you have the team ready to challenge,.
Senet1 : I am looking at the players to draft and there are a lot of big 6'3-6'5 forwards available ion the draft this year. If we could draft 3-4 big young players in the 2nd and 3rd round why would you want to give that up for a roster player who may have 2-3 years at best. If we are going to build a winner to have to build it with bigger players and there are a lot of good big players available this year. So you sign Ott and he is with us for the short run, but probably not when we are seriously re
Senet1 : Boullion is a great mentor for the young D-men
muller93 : Boullion is one of MBs great additions--Boull ion is a definite Keeper.
muller93 : Getting rid of Kaberle frees up a lot of cash. Boullion is small but is reliable and doesn't back down from anyone.
muller93 : Exactly Goalie any thoughts on a punishing D-man?
goalie : They;re showing determination adn skill vs Ducks and Blackhawks.
goalie : REd Wings could turn out to be the surprise team of this year's playoffs!
goalie : WE need to rid our team of Kaberle and Webber. Step two would be to then move Diaz. If we get that big d-man I believe that would push Boullion to # 7 on the chart. We'd then go with Georges, PK,Markov (to continue mentoring Ememlin) Tinordi as our starting six . THEN I'd be excited about our chances. We could then work on getting bigger forwards.
goalie : I too would gladly give up a 3rd round pick for Ott- the type of player we sadly lack. AND if we could get one more rugged, expeienced defenceman it would help immensely.
muller93 : Senet what you are saying makes sense but if we can get Ott for a 3rd round I'll take that all day.
muller93 : MB should be looking at a big D-man first, even though I like our blue line with the addition of Tinordi. We need that insurance just in case one gets injured. Also I'm a firm believer in starting with the goalie first then-defense-for wards-and we already have good goalie. We have all noticed when we have the lead Price is tough to beat.
Senet1 : So sometimes you have to sacrifice for one year or two to build that team in the draft. then add the finishing touches through FA and trades.
Senet1 : Muller, Detroit is another good example. They have been in the hunt every year with good well balanced teams yet only one or two cups to show for it. However, they have built a team that has a chance every years for the last 10+ years. That is what I think we have a chance to do this year with a good draft. It reminds me of the habs teams of the mid 80 and 90's we built a team then with sold draft picks and won the cup twice during that time period. So sometimes you have to sacrifice a one
muller93 : Very true Senet, you do need luck and we haven't had any luck it seems since the habs moved to the Bell Center. We had an incredible run in 2010 with some crazy goal tending from Halak. With Galchenyuk-Tinor di-Gallagher all in 1 year--not too bad, even with an early exit in the playoffs.
Senet1 : Muller I guess we all have our own ideas, but there has never been too many times that were successful when they traded their draft picks away. We have a chance to build this team so we have a shot at winning the cup over the next 10 years. Even as good as Pittsburgh has been they have only won the cup once since Crosby and Malkin have been with the team. That is because you not only need great players but you need luck to win, but one thing about Pittsburgh they have a chance every year. The
muller93 : Good point on Torres, he might be a liability. Torres has to tone it down a bit, but that's his game-very aggressive.
goalie : Though I don't condone what Raffi Torres did - thos shows you how repeat offenders or near offenders are going to be treated. His hit was NOT illegal BUT what the rap sheet adn reputation Torres has he got severly punished. Lesson to be learned by OTHER players because Torres dopesn't learn fromk his mistakes.
muller93 : Senet normally I would agree with you on not trading draft picks but we are not in a rebuilding stage. Sometimes draft picks can be a roll of the dice and it can take up to 3 years to be NHL ready. We have a good team and I agree with Stuo players like Clowe-Torres-Ott -Scott will make a big difference. Somebody has to protect Gallagher, he can't keep getting hit the way does--we need a tough forward so they think twice before going after Gallagher.
Senet1 : Really a heathly Habs team would probably win more games against the Pens that we did against the Sens. Reason they Pens would not play as physical against us as against the Sens. If we get good goaltending we win at least two games.
zpezada4ok : hello all «link»
stuo11 : hes a tougher big guy too! Just a minor adjustment but will help a bit
stuo11 : hes better than markov, and hes french who was in mention for defenceman of the year