Can it be? Are the dog days of Summer really almost over? Ladies and Gentlemen, hockey season is almost upon us. More accurately, Habs training camp is almost upon us. And what better way to begin the countdown to Habs camp than with an all-new podcast? But not just any podcast, Habs fans.
This latest cast will be the first of what should be many to include the insight and corny jokes of TPinch. It may be too early to tell if he knows what he’s talking about, but he does somehow manage to add what certain Habs fans call a certain “je ne sais quoi.”
With a discussion of what to expect from les Habitants, Eric, Pat, and T officially get the 2010-2011 season rolling. Let the Lars Eller era begin!
After taking our beloved Habs all the way to the brink of the Stanley Cup Finals (almost single-handedly at that), we reward Jaroslav Halak with a … trade. Yet, after all but disappearing offensively in the later rounds of the playoffs, we reward Tomas Plekanec with a … 6 year, $30 million deal. Makes perfect sense right? We try and figure it all out.
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.
Habs are through, just as we all expected, right? Sure. You think Gary Bettman is happy about this? How about NBC? The Habs have given new meaning to the term “refuse to lose” and the entire city is LOVING it. We try to pinpoint what it is that makes this team do the impossible, whether it will continue all the way to the cup, and how all of this might affect next year. Oh, and we go a little nuts.
For our first official Playoff Podcast, we turn up the intensity a few notches and are pretty much at each other’s throats for most of the show. You gotta hear it to believe it. Somehow amidst the fire, we manage to delve into how the Habs lost control of the series so suddenly, who starts in nets for game 4, and who starts on D: O’Byrne, Bergeron, or … Subban?
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.
Pleky, Cammi, Gionta and Gomez (and Metro) are the only guys scoring. Here are the forwards who aren’t: AK-46, Latendresse, Lapierre, Pacioretty, D’Agostini (before the hit), and for good measure, brother Sergei.
Notice something? NONE of the forwards from last year are playing well this year except the veterans, Pleky and Metro. So why aren’t they performing?
Let’s look at what our slumping forwards have in common: Good size, speed, experience on a variety of lines….but MOST importantly I think…all are 24 and under (very young), all of them were drafted by the Habs to play a certain way, their head coaches were basically only Don Lever or Guy Carbonneau and beloved Saku was their captain.
None of that is true anymore. Now it’s a new system. New coach. New players. New linemates. No captain.
Taking all this into account, of course the young guys are going to have more trouble adjusting than the old guys. Plus, Jacques Martin is a perfectionist. He gets upset when he doesn’t get what he wants and starts frantically switching lines – this too will be tougher on the young guys.
The young folks are suffering from career-low confidence right now. We would love for them to be pros, to suck it up and grow a thicker skin, but it seems to me like they need patience and consistency, otherwise this season is in the toilet.
In our tightest episode yet (if I do say so myself) we talk about the Habs’ (mis?) handling of Carey Price, Gomez vs Koivu, and … oh yeah, why hasn’t Jacques Martin named a captain already?
