Canadiens in real trouble??? What to do?
Canada.com reports that the Canadiens are in real trouble. According to their latest article the Habs have some players such Craig Rivet that may be on the trade block. It is speculated that the Canadiens have several players that could be moved for players such as Guerin however Gainey is reluctant to move young prospects for rentals.Read the full article here
http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/hockey/story.html?id=846d539d-8805-4307-a290-029a76b6e0b9&k=57938&p=2
40 Responses to Canadiens in real trouble??? What to do?
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WTF? It took an article from canada.com to tell u that the habs are in serious trouble? A blind man coulda seen that one coming. If i were gainey, i'd hold a press conference and announce that if threre's a player on his team that interests u, all it will cost is a 1st or 2nd rounder.
Is Huet going to miss time? Time to check out that kid in Hamilton if he is. Aebisher isnt a suitable #1 for a team making a push.
There is no doubt in my mind that the Habs have to do something to get out of this slump we have a lot of potential just bring in the piece that gets everybody going again. Come on Gainey get something done.
Montreal needs to take their loses and scrap this year. Sell every overpaid piece of manure on the team and get some good picks and prospects.
"Canadiens in real trouble??? What to do?"
Its like I've read this title 10 times in the last month…lol!
Now seriously, Guerin would help.
How about defense?
First thing first, make Souray Captain, he is the only one playing aith any heart, it's time for Captain Koivu to go, also ryder kavalev we need some size and heart on the team. When you watch the replay on Huet it looked like once he seen the puck in the net he went down. Thre was a delay. I think he bailed.
OK,
Lets all settle down and have a reality check.
Are the habs in a good position right now? NO!
What is Gainey going to do? Not too much.
The fact is that at the start of the season Gainey was expecting to be in a fight for the 7 or 8 playoff birth. Well that's right where they are. Everyone saying they should sell would not be saying that if they'd been closer to this spot all year. Gainey should make a few moves to try and boost offense, but he should stay calm and see what happens. They would not have won a cup this year anyways. Gainey will make some room for another free agent or 2 this summer, and hope the youngsters continue to grow. Lapierre, Latendresse & Plekanec have looked solid all year. Samsonov will be playing for a contract next year and will rebound, then sign elsewhere next summer.
The biggest key right now is Markov & Souray. These guys are not easily replaceable. I'd do what it takes to sign them both. If Souray wants out, I'd trade him now and get something in return rather than letting him walk in the summer.
I was hoping Gainey would sign Nagy, or trade for Zherdev. We need some true natural talent to play with kovalev. I think Alex is pissed that he's been playing with duds ever since he came to Montreal. Give him one superstar to play with and they'd be dynamite.
Highly doubt gainey would part with his first pick or prospects for a potential rental player, will probably take a chance on second tier players. I totally think he should cash in on trading souray cause he's definatly not coming back next year and he would definalty bring in a blue chip prospect and a first round pick easily. I also think they should trade abby as well, he is a ufa also and will proably leave anyway and then bring up yann danis or halak. Danis is also a ufa next season so the habs need to make a decision is this guy is gonna be part of the organization
Maybe Kovalev is the problem. Great players make players around them play better.
i.e.
Sundin has to play with Ponikarovski and Antropov…. no where near superstar status but they score because Sundin makes them better players!
Savard played better with Kovalchuk, Armstrong played better with Crosby, Straka played better with Lemieux.
Kovalev's numbers have been dropping since he joined the Habs. Maybe its time for him to go?
The only thing hurt for Huet is his ego. Now we all see what the Kings saw 🙂
If i'm Gainey, i'd just speak to the guys and really inspire them with some stories of his childhood.
If that doesn't work, then i'd consider trading a bunch of prospects for some of these guys:
– Smolinski
– Stumpel
– Hatcher
– Bondra
– Weight
– Theodore
This should allow the Habs to JUST miss the playoffs 🙂
yay
i concure!
seriously though, lose souray and abby, get pick/prospect for them. call up danis, leave halak to finish the year in hamilton, tank the season. sign a ufa center and dman in the offseason. so easy being an armchair gm!
yeah i guy like Guerin or Tkachuck would help i think.
but i seem to remember back in November, when the leafs were losing, that a bunch of hab fans here were on cloud 9 telling me how much better their team was and how much deeper they were and how they were immune from such a slump that the leafs suffered (at the time they lost 7 in a row or something).
i couldnt understand that. i look at both rosters and saw each one containing different kinds of weaknesses. what really boggled my mind was that these particular hab fans just went through a year in which they started well, then went through a horrible slump, then rebounded just in time to make the playoffs.
again, my point remains: these two teams are not that much different in terms of their evolution and in terms of their on-ice NHL product. the habs have a lot of skill but not Senators-type skill. the leafs have no skill but a lot of hard working guys.
in any case, i'm not here to say 'ha-ha told you so' to these particular fans (although i did tell them back then that BOTH the buds and the habs were due for a slump), but i just dont understand how they over-valued their team so much back then. just like i didnt understand how some leaf fans over-valued their team in October and earlier this month.
the leafs are due for another slump, and the habs are due for another win streak. but you see both teams' fans (SOME of them anyways) just floating with whatever their teams is going through. where is the FORESIGHT?! where is the ANALYSIS?!
Both teams are in the same boat: they aint going to the playoffs and if they do, they are not going far. and both teams' GMs should be thinking much longer term than what they are (well JFJ anyways).
Modin to the Leafs for Bell and a 2nd rounder?
I actually have to agree with the whole "Huet bailing" comment. They replayed the incident over and over again on TV when it happen and no one could figure out just how he got hurt. You could see him just sit there for a sec, than fall back in agony…
It looks to me like the only thing that Huet bruised was his ego…
It looks like the habs really are in trouble, I have very little hope left, but who knows they could go on a 10 game winning streak, like they did last year and the year before, also when you look at the standings, we're in 8th and the teams under us are the Isles and Leafs, we're definately better than both those teams. As for trades, I feel like Gainey should dump some of the veterans that aren't cutting it, (River, Koivu, maybe Bonk), the team has a bright future, there's quite a few players you can rebuild around, like Higgins (he's been playing great lately, great defensively, but just can't score, but this guy has character and will probably be our future captain) the other guy is Komisarek, (this guys is 2nd in the league in hits, and he hits hard and can be a difference maker, and he does this without compromising the team defensively, again another guy to build around) and of course there's Markov (he's probably the most underrated defenseman in the league, great defensively and offensively) You just have to build around them, and a couple others (Pleks, Latendresse, Lapierre). As for Souray, if he wants to sign with the habs great, he's a character guy and boy does he have a great shot. As for Koivu, he was amazing in december, but since he's been horrible, getting bad penalties, not scoring, has a horrible +/-, I'd consider trading him at this point, but you have to trade for prospects, not picks, guys who can help next year or in a couple of years. I'd keep Kovalev as well, this guy is too talented, and we've all seen what he can do in the playoffs, get him a big center and he'll explode. So in conclusion, I feel the habs have a decision to make, either stand still with this team, or trade some of the veterans for prospects and continue to build, and sign a couple of key guys. It's funny, I feel like if Shanny would've signed with us instead of NY, it'd be a totally different story, and you know what, Shanahan won't be in the playoffs this year.
Never said Kovalev was a "great player"….although he has great skills. Sundin is a great player (as are Lemieux, Crosby and the others you mentioned). Montreal has not had a true superstar player since Lafleur
Souray takes dumb penalties and isn't reliable in his own zone; those are both areas that would erode the guys' respect for him over time if he was captain. Like what's happened to Koivu as a leader lately. I say make Begin captain. There is a long line of heart-and-soul checking-line captains from Carbonneau and Gainey themselves to Wendel Clark.
Koivu is this team, and stripping the C from Koivu is perhaps the dummest thing I've heard. He may not be an elite center capable of carrying a team, but he is as is often said, the heart and soul of this team. Is leadership is invaluable, and you'll never hear a true Hab fan talk about Koivu retiring anywhere else but in Montreal
I am quite sure that the AVS would give Theo back for not a whole lot. They would be happy just to get rid of the salary
Savard has played better on Boston. He is on pace for over 100 points this year as opposed to 92 last.
Short term solution – WIN GAMES, WHATEVER IT TAKES.
Long Term Solution – Trade Kovalev, Ryder, Samsonov (if anybody wants him). Upgrade the forwards, get some big skilled forwards that play hard every shift and don't make Steve Begin look like the only Hab with any guts. Try and get a franchise forward that will be awesome 5 on 5, somebody like Marleau or Nathan Horton, that will play hard for his coach and not get freaked out when he benches somebody.
P.S. – Carbo made a huge mistake in benching RIVET, the team hasn't been the same since, he tried to play with their heads and the team said F-YOU COACH, Carbo'd paying for it now, he has to learn how to better deal with his players, he's still a young coach and won't ever make that mistake again
god, some of you are stupid. huet pulled his hamstring. thats in the back of the quad, which is just above the knee. if any of you have ever actually moved your legs for anything other than walking from the fridge to the desktop, youd know what it is. when the hamstring is over-extended, it becomes strained; its very, very painful, and it can last for a long time.
Based on an interview last year in ESPN, Gillet wants the team competitive in 2008-09. He is fine with rebuilding this season. But I think he wants a decent 07-08 and an awesome 08-09.
Think along those lines and you will have some sense of what Gainey plans to do.
Gainey will pull the trigger when the deal is right. I don't really forsee him making major moves here trade deadline. Though, Gainey has always found a way to surprise us. all I want right now is for the Habs to get out of their slump. I'm kinda tired of trying to make new stuff up to amuse me when I watch their games.
Boy, does he have a lot of work to do if that is the case.
Ahhh the great Guyyyyyyyyyyy!!!
Easy there tiger!!
"…the teams under us are the Isles and Leafs, we're definately better than both those teams."
You honestly want to compare rosters on paper??
Just a thought here but it might be time for a management shuffle and push Carbo back to Associate Head Coach and let Bob come back behind the bench for the rest of the season.
Just food for thought but things didn't start to stink in Habsland until Carbo started playing mind games with the players.
I've never really understood why ex-Habs are supposed to be super succesful coaches of the Canadiens…it usually crashes and burns.
Why is Kovalev out??? Is he injured or is he just starting his three week self flown airplain tour of the North West Territorys early this year because the Canadians clearly have no shot at making the playoffs. Especially with the Rangers about to blow right past them in the standings!
CT
I totally agree to this. GM should act wisely ASAP on changing a team make-up from overpaid below-average players to yunger, faster,hungrier and cheaper ones, pre3ferrably from the Quebec, who were growing rooting for Mtl and will be happy to realize that dream.
I totally agree with this.Get rid of overpaid below-average players and get yunger, faser,hungrier and cheaper ones to change a make-up of the team to get an indentity, desirable from Quebeck, who grew up rooting for Mtl and will be happy to realize theit dream.
you can't embarrass carbo like that and expect him to remain with the organization.
i think carbo will be a great coach long term. he is the first guy to deploy consistent lines for most of the season, unlike the weekly flipflopping from prior coaches. i am solidly in favor of keeping carbo and think he is the best hockey mind that would come to montreal.
Lets all be realistic here…
We are ALL hockey fans and other than hab fans we are knowledgeable too!
The Montreal Canadians ONLY have 1 good player, thats Sheldon "Sorry I let Spezza pull my underwear over my head" Souray.
After that….
THEY STINK!!!
Consider yourselves lucky they made the playoffs last year and they aren't worse the Philly yet!!!
Go Any team but the Habs Go
Wow… i couldn't have said it better myself……
Pure poetry.. I'm just surprised that you didn't mention there great signing .. what was her name….. oh yaeh ..Shirley Samsonov..
GO habs GOlf!!
Wow… i couldn't have said it better myself……
Pure poetry.. I'm just surprised that you didn't mention there great signing .. what was her name….. oh yaeh ..Shirley Samsonov..
GO habs GOlf!!
Markov is good. I think one day he could contend for Norris.
Teams can advance with average players, provided they have solid goaltending and a good system.
Keep in mind folks, 2002 Hackett went down with a injury. Our #1 when theo came back he stepped it up. 06 last year Theo went down and then Huet turned the Jets on. Maybe after huet being injuried Abby or Halak or Danis will turn the jets on and kick huet out. LOL.
P.S. Standing ovation for Gainey. Why give up Good Young Prospects and 1 – 3 round draft picks for people you likely won't sign back after the year and maybe even with someone like guerin may won't make the playoffs. So then We Aquire Guerin for nothing. Stick with your team. Maybe aquire Ian Lapierre from the Avs or someone like that. Don't go trade the team for likely useless players that won't take a team to the playoffs.
Nice to see people got coffidence in our coach. It's his rookie year. What do you expect. 4th place and a stanley cup final experience. I dont even know if the great Scotty Bowman did that in his rookie year.
By the way quiksilver whatever your name is saying souray is our only good player is a insult to great players on montreal like Koivu (having bad 2nd half of season, frig sakes it happens) Kovalev (having a offseason, just look at Jagr a few seasons ago) Markov. Possibly one of montreals best defensemen in years. Also maybe even top 3-4 defensemen in the North EAst Division. And Also Huet. Was talked about for Vezina for the first half. Not now because of the teams slide. Dont bash a team you likely dont watch the games of.