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Streit surprised by Canadiens' indifference
posted by Mike Boone at 7h27 EST on Jul 5
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With or without Sundin, we still have a great nucleus of young and old players.
What concerns me is a lack of right handed players on the team. Yes, Sundin is a right handed sniper and Bob is doing his best to pursue him to land and sign in Montreal but IMHO, he will never wear a Habs jersey. I feel his heart is still in Toronto to wear the C for one last season than go on a contender.
I want to wish Grabovski all the best in TO. I am disappointed we let him go. Hope it does not come back to haunt us down the road.
"We will win the Cup only with Carey Price in the nets"
Unfortunately, Grabs had to go; because of the numbers game, there just wasn't a place for him on the Habs. I hope he does well in Toronto... just not well against us!
As for Sundin, it wouldn't surprise me at all if he ended up back with the laffs. He'll wait long enough so that they become his only option, thereby taking the decision out of his hands. It's the path of least resistance, if you will.
It'll also make him look like a hero in the minds of laff fans, much like Captain Edward John Smith is looked upon as a hero for going down with the Titanic. Hossa takes less mone just to have a chance at a Cup? Mats will top that by taking less money to play for a team that has no hope of going anywhere.
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Every single day somewhere on this great Habs site, somebody has to voice their displeasure with GM Bob Gainey and it ticks me off to no end!
To all you Gainey bashers, GO ROOT FOR ANOTHER TEAM! You obviously know nothing about running a successful hockey franchise so Leaf Nation awaits you all! Leave Bob alone, for the love of God, he is the best thing to happen to Canadiens management since Sam Pollock! He is smart, he is crafty, he is patient (a virtue none of you bashers have) and he is successful.
Let me ask you this, and I dread your responses, WHO WOULD YOU RATHER BE THE HABS' GM???
As for Mark Streit, I liked him but he disappeared in the playoffs (other than that one big goal in Game 7 vs. Boston, but who in the NHL doesn't beat Tim Thomas?)
Streit is not worth the money he wanted.
Gainey is also a zexy beast....vavoom
Gainey didn't sign Laraque to appease the media, he did it to make the team better.
Some people have to tune into the media to get a clue of what is going with the team. They might need that to formulate their own opinions on whatever.
I doubt Gainey watches 110% to figure out his next move.
pat s, if you think that Gainey makes his moves based on what the fans and the media think, then you're WAY out in left field.
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Same time, same thought, and we're probably from the same generation, right?
Great minds think alike, Robert!
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I wasn't thinking that at all....really!
I would think you should be grateful that people are starting to agree with you. Instead, you're sucking on sour grapes, and further distancing yourself from rational fans. And I hear the leafs got a new GM, who is making plenty of reactionary transactions. But at least he's not relaxing... I'm sure they would love to have you as a fan. Enjoy!
I doubt very much Gainey HAS to do anything. He didn't get anyone cause of the press, media or anyone other. AND AGAIN, conservative won 1st in the east last season. Why mess with a great team??? We didn't lose the ship like Pittsburg. HOLY HIGH EXPECTATIONS BATMAN. Relax. Gainey knows what he's doing. He is the GM.
Get your fact straight. The coach who won the world championship retired and is now coming back to coach to team. Don't BS here!
Can you read English? Lippi is the one who won the World Cup. Donadoni didn't win the World Cup. He just lost the Eurocup. So he has to resign. Read what you wrote and what I wrote.
Lawl, i was going to say. He seems to be vehemently disagreeing with you while what he's saying is actually exactly what you said....
And again, guys like you are why the BIG NAMES wont sign for us. Want to fire someone, look in the mirror.
Pat, Hockey is not Soccer. There is no Collective Bargaining Agreement in International Soccer. Besides, the French kept their coach. How come 29 other teams didn't fire the GM. You know whats wrong with the NHL. Rent a player Free Agents and Hire to Fire Coaches and Managers. DO YOU WANT TO GO BACK TO THE DARK DAYS BEFORE GAINEY. Look how far he has come.
I find it funny that the Rangers are still mentioned as in the running for Sundin.
According to nhlnumbers.com, the Blue Shirts only have $3.8 million left in cap space and really don't have an options to cut out the required room to fit Sundin under the cap.
If Mats is indeed going to play in the NHL next year, I think his options are between Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.
All three have positives, (Vancouver = $, Toronto = familiarity, Montreal = chance at a ring) but unless a suitor comes out of left field, I think these are the three most likely destinations for the big Swede.
I find it funny that people count them out! Where there's a will, there's a way. I think the signing of Naslund was partly to entice Sundine - and 4 million in cap space can be made if a team is determined enough. The blueshirts could do it.
~Listen to the smart dog!
Not trying to be a jerk, but how do you see the Rangers clearing that kind of space?
Cap space can't be created out of thin air.
If you were the Rangers, how would you go about it? Who would they trade?
Just curious.
Cheers
I you have 7 millions to spare and a centenary dream season in your agenda there is no doubt that Sundin would have been the single best add-on option for the occasion .... in term of both contract and team imrovement.
Not many players would consider signing for a single year and none could have improved our squad the way Sundin could have in that single year.
Now that Sundin is an improbality I can see that there could be another under 7 millions option out there that could deliver the same potential boost to our team and could also be possibly obtained in a trouble free single year signing contract.... a Federov + Selanne combo package.
Those pieces are arguably a better addition to our existing roster than Sundin alone would have been because they would fit in so nicely.
Tanguay, Koivu, Selanne
A.Kostitsyn, Plekanec, Kovalev
Higgins, Fedorov, S.Kostitsyn
A dream team for our centenary season ? as always it takes two to tango ... in this case it takes three ... which would makes it even less likely to happen.
With you on Federov - I keep bringing him up... at 38 and not much of a scoring threat anymore he'd come cheap I think. But a GREAT mentor, he plays such a smart game in every aspect - position, face-offs, clutch situations, skating out of trouble. When I think of Kovalev and stick handling, I think of Federov and overall game mastery... like the teams brass - he was a senatational 2-way guy. And seriously - would you take him or Dandenault as your extra forward. Puhlease...
~Listen to the smart dog!
SD, Fedorov came up the other day. I must say I find the option intriguing but, I have a few reservations, based basically on questions to which I don't have answers. These is them:
1- Has he lost a lot of his speed? He was a comet back in the day.
2- He is making over 6 mil. this year, Is it reasonable to think he would sign in the 2.5- 3.5 mil. range? I don't see Gainey wanting to pay much more than that.
3- I remember Bowman in the late nineties criticizing him for his focus and lack of consistency. Has he worked that weakness out of his game?
These are fair points...
1. He's lost a little speed for sure, but he's not slow - and he's so smart as a player he's tough to play against. His other skills - great passer, great defensive skills (the Blue Jackets even used him as a D a couple of times) still seem strong.
2. I'd be surprised if he's more than a 3 million dollar guy now.... much more than that and I'd say no, I see him as a 1 year rent-a-veteran, almost but not quite like Roberts. His point totals for the last 3 years. 43-42-54...nothing stellar, about 15 goals a season, but he's a 2-way player more defensive now. His best was his last season - pre-UFA, and a little bit of a revival playing in Washington.
3. Federov's a bit of a prima donna. He pissed of the Wings because he held out one year - I remember the Bowman thing but I think it was just typical coach stuff... I don't think he's had a lot of critism, though like Jagr and some other guys, his talent level is so high, when he's not turning other guys inside out people say he stinks.
That's about what I know - I can't say I've watched a lot of games in the last year or two with him, but saw a couple and he looked good to me.
~Listen to the smart dog!
Federov has a tenedency to play only when he wants to throughout his NHL career.
He won't give you 100% every game, and I'll label him a lazy dog.
Type of player I would not want in Montreal.
The fans and media would be on his back during his tenure here if he were to sign.
Guy Carbonneau would have major headaches having him on our team for sure.
"We will win the Cup only with Carey Price in the nets"
Well, if all those factors are as described, he certainly could be a nice addition. But, I wouldn't want signing him to preclude being able to sign Sundin, if and when he makes up his mind. I guess if Gainey took that risk he could identify how he would deal with Sundin's cap implications in advance. It would likely mean moving some parts for picks. I can only see Begin and Dandenault as valid options that would have any financial impact. We would then have to have a kid as our seventh D, for it to be a net gain money wise.
Being seventh D doesn't do a young guy much of a favour in terms of development and it doesn't provide much injury insurance. It all seems pretty nip and tuck to keep the Mats window open. I'd say if we had a firm no from Mats at this point Fedorov would be a good option. But, we don't have that and I would hate to not pick Sundin up because we didn't have that extra 2-3mil. to play with. I think I would still wait and see, if Mats says no, we would have to trade to get that center....or maybe Fedorov is still unsigned come August and he could still be an option. phew...sorry for the long post!
Something just for laughs....
I was just checking out J.T.'s site, at http://habsloyalist.blogspot.com/ and noticed that she had been hit by enough anonymous blogger bullcrap that she had to enable a comment moderator.
http://habsloyalist.blogspot.com/2008/07/administrative-note.html
I had to smile. Been there. Had to do that!
A year ago, another blogger gave me the idea to start a tag that asked other bloggers to name their worst anonymous commenter attack. I had alot of fun with that post.
http://wwwrealitycheckeyesontheprize.blogspot.com/2007/02/anonymous-comm...
If you follow the link at my site, you can read my entry into the Anonymous Commenters Hall Of Fame. I was literally harrassed by a fan of David "I've got the pin, where's the grenade" Aebischer for about a week. His comments were so bad grammatically and so ragingingly insane and inane that I almost pissed myself with laughter reading them. Too bad I didn't save them all.
One warning: there is an abundance of foul language, most of it mispelled!
I don't know if anyone posted it in an earlier thread, but Grabovski contract with the laffs is worth $850,000. I'm sure that after hearing what Jeff Finger was signed for, he's got to be a little dissapointed!
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He made $725,000 last season, so yeah, he's probably disappointed in what was offered to him.
I thinks Grabs will put up numbers in TO, but at best he'll become nothing more than a mirage player. That's my term for guys that look interesting in numbers but are far from bringing a complete game. Think Marc Savard, Spezza, Ribiero...centers who you will not see on the ice at crucial moments and for important defensive end faceoffs.
I disagree with your assessment of Grabs. I truly believe you will see another St Louis once he gets experience .
mjames
I agree.
Check youtube.com and see Mikhail Grabovski on an end to end rush against the Marlies last season and scoring.
Simply the best hockey goal I ever saw. A Bobby Orr classic. I was there. Were you?
"We will win the Cup only with Carey Price in the nets"