Comments on: An Offseason of Filling Holes?

By: habsgod

habsgod — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 12:17:23 +0000

if you read my article fellow habs bro you'll see that i don't put higgins or pleckanec on the 3rd line i have higgins on the first line where he has chemistry wiith koivu and ryder this is where he belongs!! i have plekanec on the second line with kovalev and latendresse!! if it is not my article to which you are referring to sorry about the mix-up!!! GO HABS GO!!!

By: mojo19

mojo19 — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 13:43:18 +0000

"make me laugh's" is what they call us in Detroit, you have to come up with your own clever nick name for us.

By: jayhabsjay

jayhabsjay — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 11:42:28 +0000

hey thanks leafsfanforever. its nice to see a leafs fan not bash the habs all the time. i will say this though, i hate the leafs with a passion, but i will say good things about them if it is merited. its not that i like them, its just that unlike many fans, i think its alright to give praise where praise is due. and yes i belive the leafs did some good in the off season.

By: jayhabsjay

jayhabsjay — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 11:35:26 +0000

to totally off topic here, but i will miss saying HIP HIP SOURAY!!!

By: jayhabsjay

jayhabsjay — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 11:34:32 +0000

nhl ready perhaps, but difference makers no.

By: jayhabsjay

jayhabsjay — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 11:31:43 +0000

horrible line combinations. and im not saying that to be mean, but come on, higgins and plekanecs on the third line? no way would that be good for the team. this is how i see the forward lines...

ryder/koivu/kovalev
higgins/pleks/latendresse
grabovski/smolinski/kostitsyn
begin/lapierre/kostopoulous

as far as defense is concerned, i dont really care what lines they are as long as they do their job. i will say though i wwould like to see komisarek and markov together. once kostitsyn gets a little more experience and shows what he can do, if i were gainey id try my best to get rid of kovalev and get a gritty defensive forward and a pick for him. that is unless he wakes up and plays to his potential, because their is no doubting his talent.

thank you for reading this and to HabsRUs, please dont get offended. i just have a different view of how our lines should look. GO HABS GO

By: habsgod

habsgod — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 11:18:32 +0000

the make me laughs BLOW!!!!!!!!

By: habsgod

habsgod — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 11:16:25 +0000

i presonaaly like your out look for us!! but i wouldn't have higgins on the third lineor smolinski on the second line with kovalev!! this is how i see them!!! koivu,ryder,and higgins(1st line) plekanec,kovalev,and latendresse(2nd line) smolinski, lapiere, begin(3rd line) kostopoulous,kositsyn grabovski (4th line) then you can see what chemistry you can come up with by mixing and matching throughout the season with the 2,3, and 4Th lines don't touch our 1st line unless as you stated that gainey can somehow pick up marleau!! then you insert him between ryder and higgins! and put koivu,kovalev and latendresse together!! as for the defence i agree with you 100% and goaltending except i'd start price and go with halak as backup which makes huet expendable!! and tradeable for a defenceman to add even more depth and to go on a bit of a run in the playoffs!!! also i think markov ,and hamrlik is a good first pp pairing! hamrlik can play a good breakout and transition game better than souray!! what we give up is souray's big shot and his pylon style for hamrlik steady defence and breakout game it better to have to puck moving d-men than one and one that is a pylon with a cannon!!!

By: HoustonHab

HoustonHab — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 09:10:07 +0000

“I really don't get some people at all....”

Ok, whats so hard to get?

We both agree that Bob would like to get his 30 goal man (8 more goals then anyone else remaining on the team) back for as cheap as possible i.e. slightly more then last year’s $2.2m and maxing out at $3.0m.

You are saying that “Michael is looking for a 2-3 year deal around 3-3.2 Million per season” as you heard thru the grapevine. I’m sure you did hear something like that and it makes good business sense for Ryder.

I am saying that Ryder will get $3.5 to $4.0 million from the arbitrator. If Ryder is looking for, say, $3.2m his agent would submit a higher number to the league. A number in the range of “Ridiculous + 10%” based on someone who scored a big contract and over $4.0m. So, off the arbitrator goes and he does his thing and give Ryder what he is worth (market value).

Now, what is market value??? Is it the $3.2m that Ryder is wants? Is it the low ball number that Bob would like to pay? Is it the number that Lowe is whispering in Ryder’s agent’s ear? Is it the ridiculous number that Ryder’s agent submitted to the NHL? I have no idea!

However, I am willing to guess for fun and I say it between $4.0m and 3.5m a year based on stats and current market value for 2007-08. Looking at a few other guys in the NHL who have 50+ points and a low (+/-) would leave you to believe that plus/minus isn’t all that important when contract time comes around. Look at guys like Bergeron (-28, $3.0m), Blake (-26, $6.0m) and Souray (-28, $5.5M) and two of those guys are D-men. Actually, if you look at the bottom 10 players in the league the average salary is about $2.4m per year including entry level contracts. The guy with the most goals and 3rd in points in that shameful group is Ryder. So, if Ryder’s agent high balled the Canadians the arbitrator will be leaning towards $4.0 more so then $3.0m. That’s why I say $4.0m to $3.5m.

Now, assuming you got all that the next question is at what point will Bob walk away?

As for the “And didn't I already say that an arbitrator will give him around 4 million?”… no, you did not say that, I did.

For the record… I hope you are right and I’m wrong.

By: loco42

loco42 — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 07:37:07 +0000

Hey, it's possible, I'm a Habs fan, and I see the Leafs as a good team this year. Toskala is an upgrade to raycroft, but it'll be a battle between Montreal and Toronto. I see a last game winner goes to playoffs, like last season.

GO HABS GO.