Hockey Trade Rumors

The Montreal Gazette posted a very interesting article this morning about Tomas Plekanec, who previously was number 35, has changed to almost forever worn by Plekanec before arriving in Montreal, No. 14. He had worn this number as a boy and a budding pro in his native Czech Republic, then with the AHL’s Hamilton BUlldogs.

For the Canadiens Section Please

Looking at the Canadiens roster section of the TSN website I figured we could take a look at what the Canadiens have now in terms of depth at each current position, who the odd men out could be and who is expendable. I’m not going to talk about who should be traded for who or play on what line as at this point, Who cares? I’m not the coach or GM and unless Bob or Guy signed up for HTR and are reading this…neither are you.
Last Years NHL Stats (GP-G-A-P)

Take a look at what MTL looks like going into season now. Tell me if your satisfied!

Well, there are three possible scenarios that have been laid out for the habs. Of course some minor players in the deals might switch, but the key players remain the same.

The Montreal Canadiens have reportedly made an offer to UFA Defencemen Patrice Brisebois believed to be a 700 000$, 1-year contract.

While Gainey has brought over a couple of older players the last couple of years like Mark Streit and Jani Lahit, what about Alexandre Daigle? We all know he was never what he was supposed to be in the NHL but the last year he played with Min he played in 46 games and had 28 points. He played last season with Davos and had 61 points in 44 games.

Well this is my first entry, so please don’t tear me apart too bad.

Anyway, I’ve heard so many rumors this off season that my head is spinning. Everyone from Vinny to Shanny has been rumored to be heading up the St. Lawrence. But let’s face facts, what we have is what we’ll be seeing til season’s end. Now I’m not saying that Gainey may or may not pull off a trade or two in the upcoming months. but what, in reality do we have to offer? A good prospect (Kostisyn) for a veteran that may or may not help us reach the playoffs? Or a more seasoned player (Ryder) for an equally inept 5 on 5 player? Or perhaps an underachiever (Kovalev) for another underacheiver? (Zherdev springs to mind).

The free agent signing period is essentially over, and for now the Canadiens offseason amounted to not much more than filling holes left by departing players. Some of the players who departed (David Aebischer, Janne Ninimaa & Sergei Samsonov) had provided little to the team last season, but some such as Sheldon Souray, Mike Johnson and Radek Bonk were key players on a team that struggled to make the playoffs. This is a look at what’s been done and what might happen in the next couple of months.

This article is exclusive to HTR and TheHabsFan.com.

Ok, this is purely one man’s opinion, some may agree, most won’t, but it’s an opinion. Now, I’ve heard it all. Sens will net 120 points. Leafs will run away with the division and win the President’s Trophy. The Rangers will break the Habs single season point record of 132 points. The Pens will be a dynasty for the next 5-10 years.

Would like your opinions on this. I sincerely believe that Montreal needs a significant presence on the ice to stand up for, protect and be an intimidating factor. Need I remind anyone of the days of Ferguson, Bouchard, Robinson, Nilan…….

Funny lil story, just about this time last year, every sports station across Canada and every Canadian sports magazine predicted the Habs to finish 13th or lower. Well, what happend? Habs went through the first 2 and half months, running with Buffalo for the top 2 seeds in the North East division. It wasn’t until Francis Bouillon came back and f***ed with the Habs chemistry, that they hit their season long slump. I know, it’s unfair to blame Bouillon but him coming back started a snowball effect that went from that, to the entire Habs locker room getting a nasty flu bug that stayed for a month to Cristobal Huet playing incredibly aweful hockey that cost us the season to him getting injured. Montreal’s biggest mistake last year was starting a cold Huet against the Leafs and not pulling him after he gave up 3 weak 1st period goals. They should have went with the hot goalie in Halak. I firmly believe we would have won if Halak started. But enough about last year.

I can’t help but notice that everywhere in the internet community that most fas are very disappointed with the way that General Manage Bob Gainey handled the off-season. Does anyone remember last season? Does anyone remember anything else other than the fact that the team did not make the playoffs?