On a day when Dan Ellis went for $3mill / 2yrs, Chris Mason went for $3.7 mill / 2yrs, and Marty Biron went for $1.8mill / 2yrs, Pierre Gauthier signed backup goalie Alex Auld, who played 24 games last year, for $1mill/1yr.
I am scratching my head a little about this. Why trade for Ellis and not sign him at such a favorable rate? Ellis is certainly better than Auld.
Maybe Ellis wanted a guarantee of 40 + games? But then why did Ellis give several interviews in Montreal saying he would be comfortable playing behind Price? Maybe that’s what he said in public but felt otherwise in private?
Or, is the salary cap really that tight that even an extra $500k would cause issues for Pierre Gauthier? Maybe Gauthier really is planning to keep Dominic Moore, and wants to save every penny? But then why not sign Biron, who comes in even cheaper, and can mentor Carey and take the heat off of him with the press? Maybe Gauthier didn’t want to give him a two-year deal and didn’t want to run the risk of having the local press jeer on Carey in favor of homeboy Biron?
Or, maybe, with so many of the big name free agents already signed, Gauthier has some other kind of trade up his sleeve to get a player like Frolov? I still can’t see this happening, but maybe.
In Auld, Gauthier gets a very low-cost goalie, who is younger than 30, has a lot of international experience and has put up some decent numbers. Maybe decent enough that Gauthier thinks the extra $500k going to Ellis could be better spent elsewhere?
But I can’t help but think that getting Auld also serves as some kind of peace offering to Carey Price as well. Think about it: Auld is the same size as Price, so goalie coach Pierre Groulx will work with both goalies the same way, so Auld and Price will be learning off the same page. This limits the potential for any confusion. Auld also comes from the West Coast, too. Added bonus for BC native Price.
But maybe its because Auld is clearly not going to be a number 1 goalie, that makes him so attractive to Gauthier. Price will never be threatened by Auld or fear that his job is always at risk. No Halak breathing down his back.If Gauthier had signed Ellis, I imagine the possibility would have always existed that Ellis could have taken over.
Two things are for sure, I think:
1 – Gauthier has a lot of faith in Price: Price will play A LOT of games. We already knew that.
2- Price’s contract will cost more than we originally thought. There is no other explanation for why Gauthier would go for Auld, when marginally more expensive, but much better goalies were available. The only reason I can think of, barring an attempt at keeping Moore or some other move, is that Price is asking for $2.5 – $3million / year, minimum, and that puts more pressure on the cap.
I hope I am wrong about this. I hope the Auld signing comes down to money / something else in the works. But if it doesn’t, signing Auld, to me, looks like the Habs are once again coddling a player who has not yet fully earned the mantle of Number One Goalie.
I actually like today’s trade sending Sergei Kostitsyn for pending UFA’s center Dustin Boyd and goalie Dan Ellis.
But it does have shades of that earlier pickpocketing that saw the Habs nab a player who could skate, shoot and hit (Courtnall) in exchange for a tough 4th liner whose career was on the downturn (Kordic):
a) There is no question that Nashville got the more talented player in this trade. The Habs get a potential 4th liner for a potential 2nd liner.
b) Nashville got cheaper, the Habs more expensive.
c) Boyd and Ellis are UFA’s, but Kostitsyn is signed.
But the fact that Pierre Gauthier was able to get something for S. Kostitsyn is a miracle. The fact that he got a capable 4th liner who is stronger, bigger, faster and ten years younger than Glen Metropolit and actually fills a need for the Habs, is something good too.Frankly, I am shocked that Gauthier was able to get as much as he did, considering Kostitsyn has poisoned the well so vociferously.
But one of these players needs to be signed for this trade to make any sense at all.
Plus, this trade raises a lot of intangibles:
a) Will the Habs be able to sign Dan Ellis? If they do, this trade could be a huge win for them. If they don’t, and Sergei plays to most of his potential, Nashville wins this trade hands down. My gut says Ellis walks, because he is only 30, and might want to sign with a team that needs someone to play 40-50 games, pay him more than his current salary of $1.8 million but not want to pay out Tim Thomas money.
My gut: Ellis will look to San Jose or Tampa Bay before he even signs with Montreal! Boyd might just sign with the Habs, though.
b) Could this put more pressure on Carey Price to sign with the Habs? There might be some gamesmanship at play here. The Habs need to sign Price, but since the Halak trade, Price had all the leverage: He knew the Habs didn’t have any other goalie to negotiate with, so he could take his time until an offer came that he liked. Well, now the Habs have someone else to negotiate with, at least until July 1st. And if Price doesn’t get an offer sheet from another team, he is stuck with the Habs terms. This way, Pierre Gauthier might be sending a message: “I am going to sign this guy if I can’t sign you”.
My gut says: I may be over-thinking things here.
c)How will this effect the play of Andrei Kostitsyn (assuming he stays on):I’ve always found Sergei to be the more social and um… mentally stronger, of the two brothers. Sergei strikes me as someone who, in the right situation, can make friends wherever he goes. Andrei? Not so much. Andrei always produced better when his younger brother was around. Sergei didn’t seem to be effected by any of that, one way or the other. The question is this: Was Sergei a distraction for his brother or a friendly presence that made him more comfortable? The answer holds the key to Andrei’s season.
My gut: Andrei starts slow, but will eventually adjust. Sergei will have a great season in the NHL one of these years.
d) Post-Halak trade, what happens to Lars Eller and Dominic Moore? This is the trickiest question of all. Assuming Boyd takes the 4th line center position, that leaves the 3rd line center slot open for Dominic Moore (or Max Lapierre). So what would happen to Lars Eller? Does he stay down in the AHL or do the Habs play him on the wing?
This is another ramification of the Halak trade. For the trade to pay off and for Eller to live up to his billing, the Habs need to take every opportunity to develop Eller properly, which to me, means that he plays good minutes in his natural position and that the team is very patient with him and clear that they don’t need him to produce right away. But if he is good enough to make the Habs out of training camp, and Moore is also signed, where does Eller play? If the Habs let Moore go and pencil in Eller in the 3rd slot, well, what happens if Eller needs some fine tuning and experiences the inevitable hiccup? Who plays then?
My gut: Sign Moore, slot him in for the 3rd line. If Eller makes the team, let Eller play center on the 4th line and Boyd can play wing. He wasn’t brought in for his scoring touch anyway.
Things are certainly more interesting than I thought they would be just a few days ago.
Plekanec is signed and Halak is gone. So I’m making a not-so-bold prediction: Pierre Gauthier is done for the off-season.
Eric and I will argue over the long-term implications of the Pleks / Halak moves during our podcast – if I can ever find Eric – but for now…
…let’s give a warm welcome to the new Habs. They are just like the old Habs.
Don’t expect any big changes because:
a) Gauthier doesn’t have cap space to sign a major UFA to his lineup.
b) No major trade on the horizon either, because no team is going to take on Hamrlik and/ or the Kostitsyn brothers without some weird combination of picks, prospects, Markov, Gorges or Subban.
c) Gauthier could trade a couple of spots up or down in the draft…but again, the options are really limited in either direction so even if he does, it won’t be a major move.
But the biggest reason?
d) I think Pierre Gauthier, at heart, is a calculated, but cautious, General Manager. He sees what he wants and goes for it, but only if he is sure of all the parameters. And I think Gauthier, both as a function of the cap-strapped situation he finds himself in but also because of his personal management style, wants to stay in his sandbox. He does not want to make too many changes. More on that later.
Right now, I think we all know how the rest of Gauthier’s playbook reads, in order of importance:
1. Sign Carey Price.
2. Sign a good back-up goalie for Carey Price (Marty Biron, Johan Hedberg, Antero Niittymaki and for the wild card: Chris Mason!!!??!!).
3. Tend to the well-rehearsed list of UFA / RFA’s already on the team (Dominic Moore, Max Laps, Pouliot, etc).
In other words, don’t expect Alex Frolov or Colby Armstrong to come on over. As much as they could help the team, there isn’t any money for them. The Habs may not be able to keep Dominic Moore either. Also say goodbye to Glen Metropolit, Marc Andre Bergeron and Paul Mara. But we all saw that coming, didn’t we?
Not to beat a dead Slovak goalie, but the Halak (or Price) trade was the one chip Gauthier had to really upend his lineup in a major way. A chance to clear space, get rid of expensive pieces and maybe, maybe, find a larger bigger / cheaper body to replace Tomas Plekanec – with enough room to chase a big UFA winger or two (hence Frolov or Armstrong).
But Gauthier didn’t go down that path. He stayed inside his sandbox.
Take Exhibit A: The Halak trade. It seems reckless on the surface (and I am still convinced that Gauthier should have waited before pulling the trigger), but in reality, Gauthier sees this as minimal risk because he already knew who he was getting. Lars Eller (in exchange for Halak), and earlier in the season Aaron Palushaj (for Matt D’Agostini), were both selected by the Blues in the 2007 draft, right after the Habs picked Ryan Mcdonagh and PK Subban, respectively, that same year. Gauthier already knew those players very well, because the Habs were in a position to draft them (and in hindsight, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Benoit Pouliot – drafted right before the Habs picked you-know-who in 2005 – was the player the Habs reached out to when they were looking to dump Guillaume Latendresse).
Cautious. Calculated. He stayed in his sandbox, within his frame of knowledge. He is clearly comfortable here and sees no reason to leave.
Now I’m not saying that the next time the Habs make a deal with the Rangers, for example, prospects like Chris Kreider (picked after Louis Leblanc) or Bob Sanguinetti (after David Fisher in 2006) will be in play, but it wouldn’t surprise me. And I’m not just talking about this specific pattern either. It’s more general than that: A pattern that points to how Gauthier conducts business: He deals with what he knows.
And there were too many possible intangibles and permutations with all the possible Halak trades – and, yes, too many possible financial consequences of signing Halak and trading Price. Gauthier didn’t want any of that clutter. He chose to keep it simple. Block by block. One move at a time.
Back to off-season 2010: Maybe Gauthier pots a Kozlov here, a Halpern there, if they agree to $ 1 million or less. Maybe Gauthier goes crazy and tries to finagle a Chris Higgins back in the fold (actually, might not be a bad idea and would fit the Gauthier sandbox)!!??!!!.
But aside from a couple of TBD’s at back-up goalie and on the third line, we know what the 2010-2011 starting lineup will be for the Montreal Canadiens.
But in a week where Philly traded for Dan Hamhuis, Boston acquired Nathan Horton AND ALSO Hall / Seguin, where Tampa, Washington, Florida, Ottawa and Carolina are going to draft big or make big changes, the big question is:
Are the Habs any better than last year?
Frankly, I have no idea. But I suspect, as of now, maybe not.
We got rushed back from our summer vacay for this?????
Jaroslav Halak traded for…Lars Eller and Ian Schultz!!!!!????!!!!!!!
I HATE THIS AWFUL DEAL. I HATE IT. I HATE IT. I HATE IT. I HATE IT.
Why do I hate it? Glad you asked:
1 – Gauthier could have gotten more if he had let Halak walk as an RFA!!!
* That’s right! Gauthier NEGOTIATED AGAINST HIMSELF. Seriously. Brian Burke had to give up two first rounders and a second round pick for the RIGHT to sign Phil Kessel. Had Boston just let Kessel go, they would have been awarded a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd pick.
* Gauthier didn’t even get that in this deal. He got a former 1st rounder and a former 3rd rounder. That’s it! Seriously???
*UPDATE: Yes, I know Halak was arbitration eligible, and thus, he has more leverage. But as a negotiating point, Halak is still an RFA. The Habs could have pushed him to take a low contract if they really wanted to.
2 – Why didn’t Gauthier wait until the draft to pressure other teams into giving more?
* There is no way you can convince me that this is the best deal Gauthier could get. No way. No how.
* You know what else this tells me? Because there were so many other goalies available this season, Gauthier was scared of losing out on a good trade. He was scared all the other teams would move faster than him. But Gauthier had the best two horses in the business. That was his only leverage. And it was excellent leverage. He should have had faith in his leverage. Instead, he blinked. And after giving up a second rounder for Dominic Moore weeks before the trade deadline, all the other GM’s now know that Gauthier is weak. The next trade will be even tougher for Gauthier to make.
3 – Why didn’t Gauthier consider trading Price for a greater bounty?
* I don’t know who the better goalie is between Halak and Price, but I do know that Gauthier could have gotten more for Price. The Flyers, Oilers, Lightning, and yes, the Blues, were all interested. Tsn.ca says the Sharks were too. All of them would have surely given up more for Price, closer to the draft.
* I know, I know, money had a part to play in this. Halak would cost more. MUCH MORE. OK, I understand that. BUT STILL – was there a deal to be had for Jeff Carter for Carey Price and others? I am betting that there was. What about a trade for Patrick Sharp? The Hawks needed to dump salary. Now, he will end up on the Leafs! Hell, what about Oshie? Backes? NATHAN FUCKING HORTON? Any of those guys are better than what Gauthier got!
If any of these available centers come in, Gauthier doesn’t have to sign Plekanec.
* which brings me to…
4 – Gauthier is about to get raped by Thomas Plekanec.
* Pleks and his camp now know, for a fact, that Gauthier has no choice but to sign Pleks. Because Gauthier was unable to land a Jeff Carter in the trade that the entire league knew was coming, Gauthier’s best and ONLY option is to sign Pleks. And now Pleks doesn’t have to rush. Every day that he waits to sign, he can add another 100K to his annual salary. At least. How does $5.5 million sound to you?
5 – Gauthier will also have to over-pay for Marty Biron.
* Gauthier knows he needs a strong, reliable back-up to help Carey’s development: emotional, professional, and on the ice. It’s a thankless job in front of a porous defense that won’t have Andrei Markov back until November.
6 – Why prospects? OK, why THESE prospects?
* Lars Eller and Ian Schultz!!!! Seriously, had anyone ever heard of these guys until today? Listen, I totally get why Gauthier would not want to trade a young goalie like Halak for an aging veteran. I understand why he would want to focus on youth. I understand why he would want to send Halak to the Western Conference too. But these “prospects” haven’t even played a season in the NHL!!! They weren’t on ANYONE’S radar. Except for maybe the robo-scouts / video cameras the Habs are going to use instead of real live human scouts.
* These guys are going to start the season in Hamilton. But Hamilton HAS NO COACH. How can Gauthier be sure that these prospects are going to develop, when the Guru is gone to Tampa, Muller is in flux, and player development is a known weak point of the Habs organization?
* Also – how does Gauthier trade for prospects when almost every single heralded young forward on the Habs struggled under Jacques Martin? The Kostitsyns, Lapierre, Pacioretty, Latendresse / Pouliot, D’Agostini, they ALL struggled last year. At some point, you might want to hedge your bets.
I guess Hamilton will have a hell of a team this year, though.
* UPDATE: It seems Gauthier is really high on Lars Eller . He projects him as a “Number 2 center” and thinks Eller may even start the season with the big league Habs. The operative word here is THINKS. Eller is not money in the back. And the Habs don’t really handle young talent properly. And Halak was in the Conn Smythe discussion before the 3rd round loss to the Flyers. You tell me who you would rather have on your team?
* UPDATE 2: I fully and freely admit that if Eller becomes a great player, maybe this deal won’t look so bad. Maybe a few years down the road. Right now? It sucks.
We can’t remember a season that had so many unexpected twists and turns, so many new faces, so much fast change, and so much over-achievement. And I’m just talking about Lost!
Kidding. The Habs delivered and then some, outlasting 26 other teams to make it to the final four. This despite finishing 19th out of 30 teams in the regular season!
Yes, with few exceptions, the Habs went from a band of castaways to a group of heroes. And if you want an inside view of the great character inside that Habs locker room, I URGE you to check out Brian Wilde’s post game efforts.
We all know the particulars of this season. Eric and I will rehash them, over and over, and throw in our three cents, in our podcast this week, and we’ll talk about what comes next too.
But for now: “Merci beaucoup at a l’annee prochaine”.
What is there to say that hasn’t already been said? Here’s a team that, on paper, and in terms of injuries, should no way no how be in a position to eliminate the defending Stanley Cup champions, this after taking down the best team in the regular season in 7 games as well!
Whatever happens, the Habs have caught lighting in a bottle and it’s been an amazing run.
But one thing sticks out: How so many of the Habs have really stepped it up to a level beyond what we thought possible, and how some “champions” have reverted to boy status. So here, on a slow day, is a totally subjective list of the MEN vs BOYS in this series:
THE REAL MEN
1. Hal Gill: Playing mucho-minutes, shaking off the early-season boos, and doing nothing less than holding down the two best players in the game. Yeah, Hal is MAN #1. If he pulled himself out of Game 6, it’s because the pain threshold was just too much. Which means it would be enough to make us mere mortals faint. And he’s a damn leader.
2. Mike Cammalleri / Brian Gionta: These pint size forwards are getting it done down in the corners, in the crease, and in front of the net. And no one has an answer for them yet.
3.Jordan Staal: Coming off a foot laceration? Are you kidding me?
"I don't hurt, I swear"
4. Josh Gorges: This guys bangs into the boards, into the corners, smacks into the goalpost, and he just shakes it off, over and over again. He’s the energizer bunny / indestructible pop up toy. Seriously – I think you would need to hang some garlic around your neck and drive a wooden stake into his heart for him to even realize what pain feels like. This guy is unbelievable.
5. Jaroslav Halak: He’s a “small” goalie, but he shakes off net crashers, team-wide doubt, Carey Price’s “Franchise” status, and the crazy pressure of never having played in the playoffs…what heart. WHAT A MAN.
6. Bill Guerin / Max Talbot / Chris Kunitz: They go about their business quietly, cleanly, with class and calm. All are banged up, Guerin more so, and they deserve the manly salute.
7. PK Subban: He was in Hamilton two weeks ago. He played 30 minutes last night. He also stuck to Crosby like glue, in the absence of Hal Gill in Game 6. Talk about stepping it up.
THE WEE BOYS
1. Sidney Crosby: Yeah, he’s a champ. He’s a national hero. And the face of the NHL. He also still lives with the team owner. Sorry, but at his age? He whines at every call. And that cross check against Pleky after the game? “It’s only Plekanec” says the champ. What a gutless dick.
"But I Wanna the Puck"
2. Sergei Kostitsyn: The whole team hates him now. What a pity.
3. Matt Cooke: Crosby without all the talent. Or charm. Or usefulness. Go away already.
And tomorrow night, we hope for the best in what will be a Game 7 classic for sure.
But no matter what happens, the MEN listed above, and so many more, have proved themselves worthy of their sweaters, and the adulation they’ve been getting from their hero-starved fans.
This series has left a lot of very important people utterly speechless:
* Alex Ovechkin and Bruce Boudreau don’t know what to say.
* Ted Leonsis, and the good people of Washington, who all thought they had a winner: They do not know what to say.
* Alex Semin does not know HOW to say.
* Gary Bettman is crying in his wine cooler. He also does not know what to say (but he sure as hell knows what to do: While Boston-Philly doesn’t start until Saturday, the Habs play the Pens TOMORROW FRICKIN NIGHT!)
*Vice President Joe Biden – who was in attendance: For once, he really does not know what to say.
* Bob Gainey, also in attendance, knows EXACTLY what to say, but he’s not saying it.
* Ditto Pierre Gauthier.
* The highly-leveraged New Molsons are THRILLED they get to bank extra coin, but they’re not gonna say that.
* Jacques Martin never really says anything, anyway.
* Ditto Jaroslav Halak, and we love him that way.
* Carey Price doesn’t know what to say ….but I think if he did, it would go something like this: !!!@#@#@^%$#**!@#@??#@#***&^%$#@!!!!!!!?????!!!!!!!!
* Roman Hamrlik ain’t sayin’ nothin’ and you can’t make him!
* Mike Cammalleri, as usual, would have plenty to say. And he’s earned the right. Ditto Brian Gionta, Hal Gill, Josh Georges, Tomas Plekanec, Tom Pyatt, Maxim Lapierre(!!!), Dominic Moore and Andrei Markov. But apparently, the locker room was all business and hush-hush after last night’s game, the players already preparing for Friday’s game against the Pens.
So since no one else is saying it, allow us: “Hey Ovechkin: Did you have fun shaking Halak’s hand?”
There is an excellent piece of writing by Mike Wise of the Washington Post describing what it felt like to be an outsider at the Bell Center during last night’s 4-1 Habs stolen victory over Washington. The goods are here.
The golden nugget I want to talk about:
…if you could hear this unbelievably charged building at this very moment — the symphony of sound, some 20,000 screaming raucously as Halak was announced as the game’s No. 1 star — only one emotion could be felt by an authentic fan who followed the Washington Capitals’ record-setting, ridiculously good season thus far: Panic.
Montreal Canadiens / Bell Center fans have plenty to be embarrassed about this season. They’ve booed the American anthem, arrived in blackface (okay just two fans did, but….really???), whined incessantly over calls the refs made against the Habs. They’ve booed their own players as early as the first period, not to mention their coaching staff and general manager. Just last week, Sal the Angry Habs Fan went on a guido- tirade on Team 990, sounding both stoopid and remarkably cogent at the same time.
In truth, I feel like most sports fans just aren’t as classy as they used to be – if they really ever were. But somehow, in the eyes of the mainstream Canadian and American media, Montreal Canadiens fans are still depicted as classy, knowledgeable and accommodating fans who support their team to the final whistle no matter what. “The best fans in the league” is what we hear over and over, with apologies to Minnesota, Toronto, Edmonton or Detroit.
Well, rose-colored glasses aside, last night the Habs fans were SENSATIONAL.They were so good that I tivo’d the game and I am going to keep it saved just so I can show my American friends how awesome a real hockey game can be. They were so good that after I finished watching the game, I had a caffeine-buzz running through my veins that kept me awake all night. They were so good my own neighbors in Los Angeles were shaking in their apartments.
They were so good I was practically clutching my Habs Jersey and Expos cap in unison, sobbing tears of nostalgia, grateful like a stranded Israelite after getting manna from heaven.
No, I don’t think I am getting carried away here, because THAT, people, is the power of the Seventh Man!
Seriously, watching the game last night, it was clear that the Habs ran out of steam at about, oh… say, fifteen minutes into it (except for Halak, and a handful of skaters).The fans didn’t boo their own players, they didn’t whine, they didn’t despair. Not once.
Instead, the were LOUD.
Instead, they actually cheered for their team.
Instead, they gave Jaroslav Halak a standing ovation AFTER HE GAVE UP A GOAL.
“Hey – we got your back because you are amazing” they were telling him. And amazing Halak remained, turning away a barrage of Ovechkins and Backstroms as the rest of the Habs underwent cardiac arrest right there on the ice. The fans (and Halak) willed their team to victory. There’s no other way to look at it.
And they gave the Habs all the encouragement they need to go to Washington and steal this damn series.
THEY MADE IT! (Barely). Monday’s podcast will dissect the weaknesses, but for now, I’m thankful for the following:
1. PLAYOFFS, Baby!
Don’t kid yourself. This is a major achievement, specifically because of the injuries to their best players. Plenty of other teams in the league lost their best players to injury or trade – Atlanta, Calgary, Carolina, Anaheim – and you don’t see them in the dance, do you?
Plus, these Habs had to start all over from scratch this year, deal with all the changes, fight back against ridiculous expectations from some boorish fans…..yeah, I’d say the Habs persevered quite nicely, all things considered.
2. Excellent Goaltending.
I don’t know what happens in the off-season and I am so glad I don’t have to make that decision, but Jaroslav Halak was nothing short of excellent. And Carey Price was much MUCH better than last year, if a lot more unlucky.
Another word on Carey, because it bears repeating: Maybe his confidence is shaky, but the kid can play.
3. Andrei Markov.
The only elite player in the lineup.
4. Moving Forward
The Habs may not be big, and some of their talent is overpriced / underperforming, but this year saw a nice group of forwards that just never quit. There’s energizer bunny Brian Gionta, the no-longer-girlish Tomas Plekanec, 50-stitch man Travis Moen, heroic and gap-toothed Glen Metropolit, and I maintain brother Sergei had a nice rebound. And I am positive that mega-watt Cammy would have hit 40 had he not been injured. Hopefully, he’ll explode in the playoffs.
5. Hal Gill / Josh Georges
Every fan and so called expert was tough on Gill in the first 15 games. But dammit if he didn’t become the best penalty killer on the team. And he settled the room. He talked Carey Price through his slump, cajoled Georges to be more aggressive, and sniped back at the boo-bird-dummies after Price was awarded the third star with calls of “trade him”.
That’s called leadership, and the Habs needed it.
Speaking of Georges, I have six words: Mike Green slapshot to the head.
6. Benoit Pouliot
Yes, he is in a slump now. But he’s never played a full season (before this, his top total was 37 games!). He’s never been a top-six forward. He’s also only 23 years old. And he’s big, mobile, got guts, and lightening quick hands.
When he gets really healthy, properly conditioned for a full season, and gets used to the responsibility, man is he going to be good. Doesn’t matter if Guillaume is tearing it up. This was one of Gainey’s best trades.
7. Guy Boucher
Unlike the major league bench boss, Guru Boucher showed an uncanny ability to squeeze the most out of his young charges. Guys like Tom Pyatt, Mathieu Darche and Ryan White aren’t going to scare anybody too much, but they came prepared and confident. Sergei came back with his attitude in check (I won’t credit the Guru with PK – who was just sublime – because I think a sock puppet could coach that guy).
Compare that with the dismal performances and sinking confidences of the young players who started the season with the big-league Habs: Guillaume, MaxPac, D’Agostini, MaxLap, the Kostitsyns…….that’s a lot of talent not living up to its potential. They can’t all be duds, eh coach?
8. Jacques Martin
I know it looks like I has needling him just now. I was. But the man coached the hell out of this team. Let’s remember, there was a stretch of games there where the Habs lineup was the best in all of the AHL. This was his first year, on a team that was brand new, in a smoking-hot cauldron of a market that was calling for the decapitation of the very man who hired him. Hello? Can you say pressure?………..Don’t agree?……I’d like to see you coach the Habs for even one day. You wouldn’t last the first period.
So the Habs are in. Tonight, let’s be happy.
Tune in Monday, when Eric and I really take out the scalpels.
