they can't say anything out loud, but you hear all sorts of rumors about basically every other UFA out there Richards, Bieksa, Wiz, Ehrhoff etc. Nothing about Hamrlik. He's old, slow and not particularly good at anything anymore. He's not good enough to play regularly on a contender and he's too old to play on a rebuilding team. I'm thinking its KHL or retirement for him.
Of course you didn't hear about him, Harmlik is a old vet, and the guys you mentioned are the cream of this year's UFA crop!
Because he is 37. He' no longer the exciting UFA that a team can really build on. Make no mistake about it though... If Hamr falls through here. He will be picked up early. He's very serviceable, epescially on a one year term.
He may be out of the league after next year. But IMO he leaves on his terms... Not because he couldn't hack it anymore.
My point isn't that he is simply not good enough for this league anymore, but more that he's probably not good enough to play on a true contender. I would imagine there is mutual disinterest when it comes to talk of playing on a young, rebuilding team, so he could be out of options. If this is the end of the road for him he can be proud that he had a long, productive career, and left while he still was able to play reasonably well.
My point isn't that he is simply not good enough for this league anymore, but more that he's probably not good enough to play on a true contender. I would imagine there is mutual disinterest when it comes to talk of playing on a young, rebuilding team, so he could be out of options. If this is the end of the road for him he can be proud that he had a long, productive career, and left while he still was able to play reasonably well.
Some contradictory statements there...
Also, "young, rebuilding team?" The Habs are in win-now mode.
they can't say anything out loud, but you hear all sorts of rumors about basically every other UFA out there Richards, Bieksa, Wiz, Ehrhoff etc. Nothing about Hamrlik. He's old, slow and not particularly good at anything anymore. He's not good enough to play regularly on a contender and he's too old to play on a rebuilding team. I'm thinking its KHL or retirement for him.
Clearly there will be rumours about the top free agents, you hardly ever hear about other defenseman like Hannan, Jovanovski, Brewer and Hejda does that mean they all suck too and no one wants them? The guy had 34 points last year and played over 22 minutes a night on a team that finished in 6th place, if you don't think one team aside from the Habs will give him a contract then clearly you are just biased against him. He can easily play on a bottom pairing for a contender and rebuilding teams always need veterans to help their young players.
My point isn't that he is simply not good enough for this league anymore, but more that he's probably not good enough to play on a true contender. I would imagine there is mutual disinterest when it comes to talk of playing on a young, rebuilding team, so he could be out of options. If this is the end of the road for him he can be proud that he had a long, productive career, and left while he still was able to play reasonably well.
I wish most athletes had that thought lol (to leave some gas in the tank)... But the question is.. How close are we to contention?
I believe we are pretty close. If Hamr, who's logged all this ice time, and was a pretty big piece of our puzzle over the past 5 years, would only rightfully hope that he continues to be a piece of the puzzle. Who knows? maybe next year IS the year the habs put it all together, win the cup, and he could go out with his first cup, finally having done it all, and placing his name on the triple gold members (Him & Spacek are a cup away)
I wish most athletes had that thought lol (to leave some gas in the tank)... But the question is.. How close are we to contention?
I believe we are pretty close. If Hamr, who's logged all this ice time, and was a pretty big piece of our puzzle over the past 5 years, would only rightfully hope that he continues to be a piece of the puzzle. Who knows? maybe next year IS the year the habs put it all together, win the cup, and he could go out with his first cup, finally having done it all, and placing his name on the triple gold members (Him & Spacek are a cup away)
I would like for him to win a cup, but at this point in his career he's probably only going to get that chance if he signs on a bottom feeder and gets moved at the deadline, and I don't think Hamrlik would be willing to do that, and I'm not so sure rebuilding teams will have much interest for a 37 year old dman like Hammer.
If Hammer is so good, how come you don't hear about any other teams being interested in him when he hits the market? I honestly think he will be out of the league next season if we don't bring him back.
You can whine all you want... but I gotta ask, why didnt you start the bolded sentence with WE still buy... ?
Cause I dont live in Montreal. I live about 1800 miles away from Montreal so I cannot drive up to the Bell Centre to see a game. Thus, I dont include myself in the group of fans showing up for games. Wish I could, but..........
Wow, a lot of you seem to have thoughts about Hamrlik that just seem totally disconnected from my own subjective reality.
I would have thought it was a no-brainer to give Hamrlik an offer. Any team in the league can use him, and he has been a rock for us, so an offer should be automatic. It would be great to have him back.
There's zero conflict with the number of other players signed, or hoped-to-be-signed, because frankly Hamrlik is better than most of them. And depth on defense is very important.
The only caveats in the whole Hamrlik case are the $$$ and term. You make him an offer, no-brainer. But it's an offer that factors in his age and projection of a decreased role. If he's on board with that, great.
I completely agree.
Hamrlik for Gill-type money and term? In a second. Hamrlik has bailed us out for the last three years. Without him, we don't make the playoffs this past season or the one before. Wouldn't even have been close.
He is better than Gill, Weber, Wisnieski (in his own end), Spacek and up until now, Gorges. Emelin? No one really knows, do they?
Hamrlik and his agent have repeatedly gone on record about him accepting a reduced role and salary. He's happy to stay in Montreal and would be a superb insurance policy if nothing else.
Sometimes I wonder what hockey game HF posters are watching.
Hamrlik for Gill-type money and term? In a second. Hamrlik has bailed us out for the last three years. Without him, we don't make the playoffs this past season or the one before. Wouldn't even have been close.
He is better than Gill, Weber, Wisnieski (in his own end), Spacek and up until now, Gorges. Emelin? No one really knows, do they?
Hamrlik and his agent have repeatedly gone on record about him accepting a reduced role and salary. He's happy to stay in Montreal and would be a superb insurance policy if nothing else.
Sometimes I wonder what hockey game HF posters are watching.
If PG can do that, he's my hero. Hammer can still play #3.
I haven't liked what I've seen from Emelin so far. Not sure if he's gonna be a Hab. He'll have to raise his game several notches.
While I can't know more than you how Gauthier really thinks, I find it funny when people complain about Habs management like it has been the same for the last 30 years.
They have had 14 different coaches since Mr. Bowman resigned (1979),
6 GM's,
3 presidents, and
3 different OWNERS.
They have not been able to get it right but 2 times (almost 3) since the late 70's, that's true, but acting like it's been the same guys that have been in place for all that time is a little unfair don't you find?
No, I never mentioned 30 years. It has been 18 years since the last Cup. And we cannot blame 18 years worth of different losing teams on just the players, can we? No, management is ultimately responsible for whether the Canadiens win the Cup because they are responsible for the coaches and the players that they employ.
Hamrlik has played huge minutes the past 2 years. He has looked good at start of years but really wears down at the end. Now they know PK can play big minutes and hopefully Markov and gorges stay healthy, he would be an awesome 4 or 5 dman. Bring him back if its at 3 million or under for a year.
I have no problem with this as long as its reasonably priced and short term. Hammer always came up big when Markov went down with injuries and played beyond what he was expected. If we manage to stay healthy next year I think Hamrlik can do well in a more limited role. I just hope it doesn't mean they're giving up on signing Wiz.
Do you seriously believe that?
You forget who is coaching this team. Jacques Martin. The coach who will play an old tired mistake making player while sitting out younger players.
If Hamrlik is re-signed, he will once again get the top minutes. I think that JM is incapable of breaking old habits and tendencies.
This would affirm the idea that management doesn't care to win, by having the exact same team that failed two years in a row. And don't give me the "well there were key injuries" crap. They have money, spend it on someone younger and better.
The Bruins just won the Stanley Cup with Ference, McQuaid, Boychuk and Kaberle, who are all much worse than Hamrlik.
I disagree on Kaberle. Even the other guys you mentioned aren't really worse than Hamrlik. They are all more mobile and rarely make the mistakes that he does. They excel in different areas, and in this era of the NHL, unless you play a highly specialized role like Hal Gill, you have to be mobile. Hamrlik does not excel well enough in any area of the game to really play a specialized role, so his usefulness to a contending team is almost non-existent. He still has ability, its just that he's going to have to play for less than 2 million, and even then likely on a rebuilding team in hopes he can get traded at the deadline to a contender for depth. I am not sure if he's willing to do that or not, but I would imagine it is unlikely.
ya, i'm sure there'd be a few teams willing to take him for 750 K
Right.
The guy has averaged 30 PTS/year and 78 GP/year over his tenure with Montreal. He's also a +15 in that period (including a +6 this season). He's played apprxomiately 7,775 minutes in those four seasons.
I hope he's back in Montreal just to spite you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by le_sean
I'll ****ing puke if he comes back.
This would affirm the idea that management doesn't care to win, by having the exact same team that failed two years in a row. And don't give me the "well there were key injuries" crap. They have money, spend it on someone younger and better.
We've made the playoffs every year with Hamrlik as a Top-2 defenseman. Keep going though. It's amusing.
At 2,5 million for a year, I'm all for bringing him back.
CAPGEEK.COM CAP CALCULATOR
FORWARDS
Erik Cole ($3.200m) / Tomas Plekanec ($5.000m) / Mike Cammalleri ($6.000m)
Brian Gionta ($5.000m) / Scott Gomez ($7.357m) / Max Pacioretty ($1.625m)
David Desharnais ($0.850m) / Lars Eller ($1.270m) / Andrei Kostitsyn ($3.250m)
Mathieu Darche ($0.700m) / Zenon Konopka ($1.000m) / Travis Moen ($1.500m)
Tom Pyatt ($0.700m)
DEFENSEMEN
Andrei Markov ($5.750m) / P.K. Subban ($0.875m)
Josh Gorges ($2.500m) / Hal Gill ($2.250m)
Roman Hamrlik ($2.500m) / Alexei Yemelin ($0.984m)
Yannick Weber ($1.000m) / Jaroslav Spacek ($3.833m)
GOALTENDERS
Carey Price ($2.750m) / Alex Auld ($1.000m)
BUYOUTS: Georges Laraque ($0.500m)
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $64,000,000; CAP PAYROLL: $61,395,509; BONUSES: $400,000
CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $2,604,491
That would leave us space for a trade at the deadline, depending on our needs. Weber could be inserted in the lineup on the 4th line if there are injuries.
EDIT: Forgot BenPou, but we could play him on the 3rd and put Desharnais as teh 4th line center instead of Konopka.
tampering, much?
Thus, I dont include myself in the group of fans showing up for games. Wish I could, but..........
