Comments on: Tough Month Ahead For Habs Who's the Dead Wieght So far?

By: 29_other_teams

29_other_teams — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 09:12:04 +0000

I agree with you 100%. We need Huet for many reasons; here are a few:

- As a mentor to help Price develop to is full potential.
- Having both of them creates a healthy competition so that either of them gets to confortable with the #1 job and then flops.
- Injury wise. If one goes down with an injury we would still have the other one.
- You do not want to put the pressure on a 20 year old kid with the #1 job in the most pressurised hockey market in the league. Remember, Price has only 9 NHL games under his belt.

I beleive that Price will be someday one of the best goaltenders in this league if not the best however he is not ready for that king of pressure. As I mentionned in my last post, we have one of the best tandem goalies in the league; we should be keeping it that way!

By: morrissey

morrissey — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 08:52:49 +0000

Doh! Yes, Sergei of course… I'd leave Andrei where he his, same reason I wouldn't move Kovalev onto Koivu's line … Andrei, Plekanec and him are clicking quite well right now, wouldn't break up that combo.

By: habsgod

habsgod — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 07:43:51 +0000

i think you meant sergei kostitsyn,andrei is already on the team and plays with kovalev and plekanec!

By: my_sphincter

my_sphincter — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 05:52:43 +0000

Iginla was great that season, but the Hart is for the most valuable player. Theo was the ONLY reason that the Habs did anything that year. He stood on his head all season. He surely deserved the Hart.

Now as for the Vezina, Theo's GAA and S% were better than Brodeur's and he played for a team that was much less skilled than Brodeur. Again, why should Brodeur have won it over Theo?

I like Brodeur and Iginla, but that year, Theo deserved the awards he got.

By: habsrock99

habsrock99 — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 21:47:08 +0000

I was watching them but apparently you weren't. A history lesson for free here. Here's Thibault's stats as a Hab:

Year     GP    W-L-T      GAA   SV%   SO   Leading Scorer
95-96  40   23-13-3   2.83 .913     3   Pierre Turgeon-96 points
96-97 61   22-24-11 2.90 .910     1   Vincent Damphousse- 81 points
97-98 47   19-15-8   2.47 .902     2   Mark Recchi- 74 points
98-99 10     3-4-2     2.71 .908    1   Mark Recchi- 47 points
TOT: 158  67-56-24 2.73 .908    7

In comparison, Jose Theodore's tenure must have nearly killed you. Here are Jose Theodore's numbers during his time in Montreal:

GP       W-L-T-OL         GAA    SV%    SO
353  141-158-30-5   2.62   .910    23 PLUS an undeserved Hart and Vezina Trophy

What's the one thing you notice about the two in Montreal? They each had simlar GAA and SV%'s and Thibault had a winning record. Also, look at what Thibault's done since. He's helped a Chicago team make the play-offs and he helped a young goalie in Pittsburgh win 40 games last year. What's Theodore done since leaving Montreal? A 14-16-3 record with a GAA above 3.00 and SV% below .900.

The thing is, Thibault ISN'T the "worst goalie ever" as their have been much, much, much worse goalies who have played both for Montreal and in the NHL in general.

Also, you may have noticed that I said Theodore received and undeserved Vezina and Hart Trophy. Well, he didn't deserve either one as Jarome Iginla should have won the Hart that year and Brodeur should have won the Vezina.

By: morrissey

morrissey — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 21:10:19 +0000

One reason why Smolinski is on the 4th line has nothing to do with his play, it's Kyle Chipchura that's stolen his job. I am simply stunned by the poise, defensive responsibility and overall hockey awareness of Chipchura so far. He's playing so far above most rookies in those aspects of the game it's downright scary. He won't put up many points or get any nods for the Calder but I've found him just as impressive as Carey Price so far. With Carboneau, Jarvis, Muller & Gainey behind this guy I don't think a future Selke trophy is out of the question.

Ryder I would be glad to see go. I want to see Andrei Kostitsyn brought up from Hamilton to play on the first line, from all reports so far, he's more skilled and more NHL ready than his brother - time to give him a shot. Failing that, Latendresse is not a bad option, he's only 20 and never played in the AHL - he's going to make mistakes and we can't expect him to perform like a seasoned player, but he brings a combination of size and good hands that no one else in the organization has. He's the ideal style of winger for Saku Koivu, but just lacking the experience - he can learn on the job, can't be worse than Ryder.

Huet is a tough call, the cap space he'd free up is very tempting and we have Halak & Danis that can cheaply fill a backup role who are already in the organization. It's all down to Carey Price really, it will be his job sooner or later but is it this year? Next year? Do we want to put Patrick-Roy-esque pressure on a 20 year old? We've got a potential franchise goalie here, who's still cheap for 2 years, Huet will be relatively cheap too, no matter what his role... do we want to risk Price's development for the sake of 2-3 million in cap room? The only way to answer these questions are to get the kid in plenty of games before the trade deadline so he can be properly evaluated. Frankly if Huet was to get hurt for 3-4 weeks right now, that'd be almost ideal - kid gets to play without risk of offending the veteran, the picture becomes much clearer before decision time rolls around.

By: TheStryker

TheStryker — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 20:48:07 +0000

Smolinski is a big bust. To think that a guy like Josef Vasicek was out there at less than 2 million a season. I know Smolinski has a no-trade but does that mean he can't be put on waivers ? Huet won't stay in Montreal. In an interview today on RDS he said that he didn't want to be second violin. If i'm Gainey I inquire on what Curtis Joseph is looking for, and if he's interested sign him up and try and package Huet,Ryder and a pick for a top 6 forward.

Who's looking for a Goalie and an underacheiving 30 goal man ?

By: leafsrgarbage

leafsrgarbage — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 20:32:38 +0000

Did u just say Montreal should consider getting Jocelyn Thibault back? Are u serious? This guy has to be the worst goaltender in NHL history!!!!!! Were u not watching the games when he was our goaler? He really sucks!!!! Please do not ever mention that guys name again, he gave me ulcers and nightmares ever since he played for Montreal

By: habsrock99

habsrock99 — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 19:19:29 +0000

I say trade Huet at the deadline, but ONLY if Carbo and Gainey feel Price can take the reigns. If Huet is traded or when he walks July 1st, sign a REAL experienced goalie such as Curtis Joseph or Jocelyn Thibault or Chris Osgood or Manny Legace or hell, even Ed Belfour. All of these guys are heading into the years where their bodies can't handle the #1 duties anymore and they would provide better leadership and would be a MUCH better mentor to Price then Huet could ever be.

Tell me, what would you rather have? A goalie with over 350 NHL Games plus 50+ NHL Play-off games or Huet, who has less then 150 NHL games and only 6 play-off games? I don't know about you, but I'd take the goalie with 350 games and 50 play-off games under his belt.

By: habswinthecup-again

habswinthecup-again — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:46:40 +0000

Montreal needs Huet for the whole season, I do not care how good Price plays. Half the reason that Price is playing great is Huet and if you get rid of him and his experience then Price does not have a mentor.
If I were Gainey I would sign Huet to a 2 year extension right now and then you can trade him next year if Price is clearly ready or the year after if they are not sure about him.