Comments on: In Bob We Trust…Yeah right!

By: mtl_prince

mtl_prince — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 13:51:13 +0000

he had to sign someone with the 15 or so million in cap space that he had….

By: sanj91

sanj91 — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 12:33:02 +0000

Hey buddy, the reason Montreal gets to where they are is because of the fans. We don't have a team that deserves to be in the playoffs. But stil we are in the playoff race every year because fans like us push the team to do better. But everyone has a certain amount of patience. I, for one, am tired of seeing all these big-name players pass by us. It might be becaus eof the city, but that just means that we pay them more. After all, it's not the money that's the problem, it's the term. Sign someone to a 8 year contract and they will play for you. Frontload their contract and they will play for you. Sometimes you have to find other ways to get the players to come. And Bob is just not doing that. Now we're going to go into the season with more than 10M sitting around. Oh that's good for next year some of you might say, but what do you think is gonna happen next year? Confused? Take a look at the past fu**ing 5 years.

By: dan27

dan27 — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 12:22:36 +0000

Yo buddy.

I think you need to shutup. Gainey has done more than any other team to sign big names players - NOBODY WANTS TO PLAY HERE. GET THAT THROUGH YOUR HEAD. MEDIA/FANS/TAXES = NO PLAY.

This is not Bob's fault. I hate you idiot bashers of our GM. He is one of the best GM's in the league - just nobody wants to play on this team because of people like you.

By: the_word

the_word — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 11:46:52 +0000

I can't believe what I'm reading here, for those who praise Gainey for not getting swept up in the UFA frenzy and recognizing he needs to build through the draft. What BS, Gainey tried to sign big name free agents and he failed, miserably. Hamrlik at 5.5 is evidence that he's looking to waste cap room on overrated free agents. Expect more signing in the coming weeks, Montreal is always a great bottom feeder in every UFA market.

By: The_Dynasty

The_Dynasty — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 10:57:22 +0000

Everyone should reserve judgement on Gainey 'till we actually see what all the free agents do next year. Over 65% of all FA signings are bad for the team. I'm happy with what Gainey is doing. Our team actually has a future. You can't win by signing tons of FAs. You by signing one or two FAs, making good trades, and having a great pipeline from your farm system. Just look at the ducks.

By: habitants24

habitants24 — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 10:41:52 +0000

You know that I am so sick of the so called Montreal fans blaming Gainey. Put the blame where it belongs and that is on the media (especially the french media) and the fans who attend the games. I am a die hard Montreal fan who takes ribbing everytime i cheer for the habs as I live in B.C. People can't believe the harrassing and booing that goes on at these games when a player misses a pass or doesn't shoot when everyone thinks he should. Let's face it, it is a pressure cooker to play in Montreal. If I was a professional hockey player even being a habs fan I would turn down an offer to play in Montreal as it appears for most it is quite detrimental to one's carreer. If the fans would just back these guys when they need it the most and if the media would just get off of thier soap boxes and try to focus on the positives rather than the negatives this team might just want to play for the city. I was born and raised in Montreal and have to say that at times I am ashamed to say that the Canadiens are my team. I say this not because of the team and the players's, but because I see this like a marriage I am with them through thick and thin, the good times and the bad times. I say this because for some reason the city of Montreal only wants to focus on the bad that happens to the team and never the good. I say to all Montreal fans out there keep a smile on your face supporrt the team as you would your family, stay positive and make the city a fun place to play hockey in again and maybe then getting people to sign in Montreal in the future won't be a problem. So after saying this and voicing my opinion whether you agree with it or not, do you still believe it is Gainey who can't sign these players or do the player's just not want to be in Montreal?

I will say that one name comes to mind when I think of the lack of talented player's going to Montreal and that is "MARIO TREMBLAY". Ever since the Patrick Roy ordeal the team has just not been the same.

By: sanj91

sanj91 — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 10:36:47 +0000

Hey, if we can sign Hamrlik at 5.5M a year, why can't we sign Briere at 8M. Sometimes you have to overpay for the guys you want. If Philly wins the cup next year and Briere gets over a 100 points, is anyone going to say Holmgrem overpayed? Of course not. Sometimes you need to act quickly and give the player what you want. There's 3 different GM mentalities out there.

1) Find a key player and build around him. (Crosby, Iginla, Sakic)

2) Build from the crease out. (New Jersey, Vancouver, NY Isles)

3) Build from the ground up (Anaheim, Buffalo, apparently Montreal)

Now some might say, hey we're in the same boat as Anaheim and Buffalo. Pretty good eh. No! We're not even close to kind of team Anaheim is. They draft big, strong, talented players. How? Because they sucked a couple of years ago and they got amazing draft picks. How did Buffalo get such good prospects, they cucked a couple of years ago and got great draft picks. Same for Pittsburgh. Now Montreal, is never going to suck. Let's face it, no matter how bad the situation is, the fans force the tea, to do "well". So unless we really suck, we're never going to draft the Crosby's and the Kane's that will become centrepiece players. We'll just keep on drafting mediocre players and we'll keep having mediocre teams. Every team has brought in atleast one star player. Someone who gives their team a face. San Jose (Thornton), Buffalo (Briere), NY Rangers (Jagr), Vancouver (Luongo). You see guys, sometimes you need to shake things up. With Souray leaving, we don't have any "stars". Our first line is probably going to be centred by Koivu, who despite the amount of love I have for him, is not a first-line centre. I expect my first line centres to be getting 80+ points. Montreal needs to bring in some talent, because Montreal has never been and can never be a rebuilding team!

By: micky

micky — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 08:38:07 +0000

All vaild reasons for players not wanting to come to Montreal! The pressures are so high that Quebec kids are actually afraid of coming to Montreal, certainly players who lack any mental strength or character a la Briere. This is clearly the opposite of a city like Toronto where Ontario kids can't wait to sign with the Leafs….no pressure, low expectations and no real emphasis on winning. I don't have a problem with Montreal not signing Briere, as in time he will prove to be the biggest free agent bust of 2007! We need some size and strength to compliment our great group of young players.

By: habswinthecup-again

habswinthecup-again — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 00:54:55 +0000

Well said! I wish everyone would shut-up and let Gainey do his damn job.

By: camerak

camerak — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 23:52:20 +0000

According to Darren Dregger on Sports Center last night, Bob Gainey had put in a better offer than Philly, but Briere simply didn't want to play in Montreal. He had picked Philadelphia out before the free agency period opened up. Smyth's final decision came down to Colorado, Toronto and Montreal, in which Colorado won. So don't blame Bob for anything. He's making the offers, he had apparently offered a higher salary to many players and a long term, but wasn't able to seal the deal. I don't think UFAs want to play in Montreal for 3 reasons:

1) The fans are too quick to boo players for off games or bad plays
2) The media eats most of them alive. The team should try to protect it's players from the media circus that is Montreal. If a player isn't comfortable with the media, the organization should try to help them through that
3) Rejean Houle and Andre Savard were great at drafting young prospects, but terrible for trading away their future. Montreal's future will really start to look bright in the next few years when some of the prospects start to make a name for themselves, like Buffalo had done.

So cut Gainey some slack. He went out and got Smolinski who will be an excellent two-way center with size and who is willing to block shots and use his body. Hamrlik is a little too injury prone for my liking, but he is a + defenceman, and that's a bonus. Souray just let too many players use him as a pilon.

We aren't getting Marleau, so let that pipe dream go. I really only agree with going after Danny Markov, resigning Ryder and Pleks. After that, I think Gainey should get on the phone and trade away some draft picks and Boullion and Dandenault for a 2nd line center. Let some of our prospects make the lineup next season. Why let some of them rot in the minors, as your lineup doesn't show Kostitsyn, Lapierre, Grabovski, Gorges or O'Byrne. We need to be competitive but at the same time, we need to develop our prospects with some NHL ice time.