Happy to have you Brian!! This is so cool that you'd do this, you were one of my favorite Habs back in the day! I hope you can bring some other pros on here with ya.. *hint* sakuuuu... Haha!
I can't wait for there to be some hockey for us to talk about, having you around will make it so much more interesting!
Welcome to the boards Brian! You were always my favorite hab when you were playing, and I was so mad when they traded you. Still remember the crazy Islander game where you had 6 points.
Speaking about the trade, how did it feel being traded? Some players demand for a trade, for others it comes out of the blue. It must be hard though, especially with a family and such. Sometimes we forget that players are human beings just like us and dont take into consideration how things like a trade affect players.
Thanks for taking the time to answer all these questions!
Thanks Brian. Glad to see YET ANOTHER player talk about the importance of fighting in hockey. The Anti Fight Nancy's won't know how to spin your answer. Glad to see another player talking about the role fighting plays in the game.
Welcome to HF. As a fan in his 30's I vividly remember your career in Montreal with tremendous fondness. You had an interesting statement a few pages back I want to follow up on.
Can you provide any more insight on the Roy trade? In my opinion that trade (along with the whole Tremblay/Houle era) set the Habs back 2 decades.
And, to all Hab fans...not surprised at all that Mr.Savage is here!!
Met Mr. Savage once at ''Cheers'' (downtown) a long time ago and
Mr. Savage was so down-to-earth and super friendly (and not just saying/writing that!), so not surprised at this kind gesture that is making many Hab fans happy!!
Mr. Savage, I'll be 100% honest and write that I was an on/off Brian Savage fan, but now that you're here...I'm a huuuuuge fan forever!!!! Very nice/thoughtful of you to come here and say hi and also answer so many questions...but we can't expect every single question to be answered (only natural!).
And, congratulations on having three sons!! Maybe we'll see a Brian Savage Jr. drafted by the Habs one day!!!
#49 will always belong to classy/friendly Brian Savage!!
I remember seeing you jogging around the McGill campus when I was in grad school during your playing days.
Here's a question that relates to one of my favorite themes:
do you think that the NHL is doing enough to prevent injuries?
Here are a few suggestions for what they might do:
i) spring-loaded boards (the wooden part, not just the plexiglass part) with some give (fund some research to find material & design that do not affect bounce of the puck);
ii) mandatory visor/half-visor and boxer-type mouthguard (not a decision of the player, who might be tempted to get rid of either based on peer pressure, and btw, concussions can happen easily by facial trauma, hence the mouthguard), as well as
iii) externally softer elbow pads and shoulder pads (make it unlikely to cause a concussion by amplifying the trauma with what is supposed to be protection);
iv) concussion prevention research program, just like the NFL.
v) (Edit) while we're at it: the rink has stayed the same size for more than a century, while players are a lot faster than they were a century ago: what is the hang-up about increasing the size of the rink? Somewhere between the current size and international size...
My opinion is that the NHL is run by old school guys who don't really care about the long-term health of the players, and even in the short-term are certainly not proactive in terms of keeping them healthy. Guys like Pat Lafontaine, Eric Lindros, Zigmund Palffy, could have played a lot longer. It can still be a contact sport while keeping the players in the game.
Last edited by VirginiaMtlExpat: 11-06-2012 at 09:07 AM.
Indimidation was bigger back in my earlier days in the NHL. The game has changed a lot. New rules allows the skilled players to perform without the clutching and grabbing they use to do in the old days. You have to be able to play the game now. Fights can always change to momentum of games for the good but sometimes for the bad. I remember a fight in the old forum with Domi and Brashear. Brashear was young and Domi was a heavy weight. Leafs were out paling us badly but Brash gave it to him and changed the momentum of the game and we went on to win.
How often would you say those staged fights actually impacted the outcome of a game?? And how about now compared to then? Staged fights nowadays seemed useless 99% of the time.
A reactionary fight after a player got hit, I can see have some momentum change, a staged fight for vengeance as well, but a random staged fight because your team is 3-1 rarely seems to change anything.
Brian, what do you miss most about your playing days? The players, the game.. or being part of a team/family ? I left 'the paycheck' out because that's a given.
Maybe you can try recruiting more Habs alumni to HFBoards.
My first live NHL game actually had you in it 
