Losing a 2-1 game against a French goalie who stops 24 of 25 shots, while posting a sv% close to 0.920 himself... sounds familiar.
No one has been prattling on about Price's stats since they dipped below Luongo's, Ward's, and even Fleury's, either (I think tonight bumps his sv% 0.001/2 above Luongo and Fleury though, which is nice).
I always was confident that SK could pan out, but somewhere else than Montreal. Here, he was not really welcomed by the team and teammates. I'm glad it seems to work well with Nashville. About the same with Grabovski.
S.Kostitsyn: 20 pts in last 18 games.... traded for nothing
D'Agostini: on pace for 18 goals 39 pts..... Palushaj, we'll see
O'Byrne: would be on pace for 210 hits (wouldve been 7th amongst Dmen last season) and 192 blocked shots (wouldve been 5th last season)..... Bournival, we'll see
Lapierre: on pace for about 215 hits..... Festerling (nothing)
The usual suspects:
Grabovski: on pace for 36 goals and 67 pts..... for nothing
Latendresse: 28 goals in 63 GP with MIN..... Pouliot
Ribeiro: on pace for 68 pts..... Niinimaa (nothing)
Robidas: league leader in hits amongst Dmen last season, 7th in blocked shots, and 41 pts..... ??? I assume nothing
NHLers that didnt pan out after great starts with Habs: Ryder, Higgins, Komisarek
"Bust" draft picks and who they missed soon after: A.Kostitsyn (10th) over J.Carter (11th) Chipchura (18th) over Zajac (20th) D.Fischer (20th) over C.Giroux (22nd)
Say what you want, this player would never have done well in Montreal for this and that reason, etc etc.... and yes some players have developed well in Montreal (Plekanec, Markov, Price), and there have been decent draft picks in recent years (Subban, Halak), but the list of players traded above cant be compared to many other teams in the NHL..... ok maybe Toronto with Kessel, Rask, etc.
There is CLEARLY a problem with player development here, and to make matters worse we virtually get nothing in return (so far). You can be a Hab homer and deny all you want, but this isnt normal, and I really dont see the Habs being a Cup contender anytime soon (and dont bring up last years playoffs) with this kind of managment.
Gauthier clearly has already made bad choices. Wisniwski was good as they they needed to replace Markov, but he still paid a price for a UFA to be. Sergei, DAgo, OByrne, Lapierre, all poor trades.
Gainey made his share of poor trades too (Gomez, Grabo, Lats, Ribs), but did manage to draft PK, Halak (Eller), Leblanc (well see), and not resign Komisarek or Kovy (thank god). Cammalleri and Gionta were decent signings, but he paid a lot for them whether you agree or not.
Look, Im not a Habs fan, I dont have any favourite team, I know its the same old song here in Montreal, but its clear that theres a problem. We had our run in 07-08, and failed miserably in the playoffs. Last year was great, but lets face it Halak brought them there and didnt come close to beating Philly. Size has always been a problem, and now we trade Lapierre to being in 5'7 Desharnais? Yes he deserves a shot, but your best hitting forward right now? A.Kostistyn. How pathetic is that?
Im convinced that Price and PK will be stars one day, and I REALLY hope they stick with them for a long long time. Youth IS the way to go in todays NHL, but mid 1st rounders year after year is too much of a gamble. Watch the Islanders and Oilers soar of the next several years while the Habs continue battling for a playoff spot.
Go ahead and rip me, homers.
Last edited by intylerwetrust: 01-09-2011 at 11:01 AM.
Draft picks sure, every team has missed some, but all those trades of giving away decent young players and in return get nothing? Not many. Only Toronto (Kessel, Rask), and the Islanders (Milbury's reign) come to mind.
-Sergei had to be traded after what happened when his value was at all-time low...
-O'Bryne trade was a dumb one as we now realize that you can never have enough Dmen who are way harder to replace than forwards.
-Lapierre asked for a trade but he's an easily replaceable forward.
Regarding O'Byrne and Lapierre - IMO, you are exaggerating the correlation between hits and wins.
I think it is fair to criticize the Habs' handling of Ribeiro, Grabovski and Sergei. I don't know what the perfect solution is, when dealing with "problem" personalities. But it seems like there are organizations that handle them better than the Canadiens.
I believe Rodibas was an Andre Savard trade, so I don't think it belongs in this argument.
Timmins' draft record has been beaten to death around here. I think the general consensus is, poor record in the 1st round, very good record in later rounds.
Not really the point of your post, but it's in there - I'm still a Higgins defender. He's not the scorer we thought he'd be, but I think he's a useful 3rd line player. He has settled into a salary range where he's still an asset.
-Sergei had to be traded after what happened when his value was at all-time low...
-O'Bryne trade was a dumb one as we now realize that you can never have enough Dmen who are way harder to replace than forwards.
-Lapierre asked for a trade but he's an easily replaceable forward.
Sergei, yes thats the point. We trade them because they cant develop well here, and therefore get nothing in return. Same goes for Ribs, Lats, and Grabovski. Its happens way too often.
Lapierre's 200+ hits and grit can easily be replaced? By who? Year after year we only talk about how the Habs need more of that.
Draft picks sure, every team has missed some, but all those trades of giving away decent young players and in return get nothing? Not many. Only Toronto (Kessel, Rask), and the Islanders (Milbury's reign) come to mind.
All of those players had terrible attitudes . What is the point of this thread . The past is the past
Any player with some talent but a difficult personality is quickly isolated, mistreated and later traded.
When I heard SK and AK were basically left to fend for themselves in Montreal (when SK is like 19 years old) and got mixed up with the wrong people, I gave up on this organization's player development. How do you even let that happen?
Crosby stays with Mario, even Cam friggin Fowler stays with Niedermayer. AK and SK stay with? the mafia?
Lapierre asked for a trade but we KNOW he can be a great player for us. So we trade him for NOTHING? Wow.
And we trade Grabovski because he didn't get along with players we were later going to trade anyway?
Bring Latendresse up at 19 years old. Play him on 4th line. Kill confidence. Trade. Watch him score 30 goals.
And LOL @ Pacioretty. He'd be done too if he didn't practically develop himself by saying he'd rather stay in Hamilton. I got a huge laugh out of that one.
Sergei, yes thats the point. We trade them because they cant develop well here, and therefore get nothing in return. Same goes for Ribs, Lats, and Grabovski. Its happens way too often.
Lapierre's 200+ hits and grit can easily be replaced? By who? Year after year we only talk about how the Habs need more of that.
We need top 6 players who play with Grit. I find our bottom 6 to be overall pretty gritty. Especially if you replace Tom Pyatt with White. Grit isn't always about hits...
Lots of deniers in this thread... stop wearing the pink goggles and see that mangement has screwed a lot lately and pretty much with the same type of players - young talented but immature - it's time that this organization arrives in the 21st century and adapt their way of doing things.
Draft picks are a crapshoot. Other than the Fisher pick, which was very questionable at the time, we have made some nice picks and screwed up others. Every team has done that and I will not worry about it because at some point we will get the player that other teams have missed.
The real issue is trading players that play in the NHL today for projects or AHL type players. I include Dags, O'byrne, Sergei, Chipura and Laps in that. I do not include Lats in that because we got a NHL player (and btw, Lats showed up out-of-shape to camp this year and has been out since October). That is my issue - if you are trading a NHL player, you need to get one back unless you are getting a draft pick or highly regarded prospect (Halak for Eller). But taking on someone else's project for an established NHL player is just a recipe for disaster and you end up on the short side.
the past? sure if you consider whats been done in the PAST YEAR or 2.
YAY ! WE TRADED GOOD PLAYERS HOORAY ! They are gone . Yes they had talent . But quite frankly they couldn't handle the pressure in Montreal and could in Nashville and Dallas for example.... Big deal. I really don't get the point of this thread
