All For Nill

July 4th, the day before the free agent window was supposed to open will likely overshadow the 5th in the fullness of time.



Several big moves were made on the eve of free agency. Among them, was the "big" signing by Marc Bergevin that brought Daniel Briere into the Canadiens fold. Across the NHL, Dallas GM Jim NIll was busy finalizing a trade that secured the Stars perhaps one of the top centres in the league at the age of 21 anywhere.

These two moves have nothing to do with each other on the surface. But they should be linked in the minds of Habs fans with a long enough memory to recall the candidacy of Jim Nill for Pierre Gauthier's job. He said no. The search turned up rookie Bergevin and here we are with a 35-year-old version who contributes 5 more goals than David Desharnais (with him still on the team, btw) and Dallas has reshaped their team in a few deft moves.

Tyler Seguin has the potential to be the move of the year. At worst, he puts up 60 points a year while overpartying in Texas. He's already been to two Stanley Cup finals before most Habs draft picks would be enrolling for their third term in college.He didn't impress statistically this time around, but his worst series came as Boston was thrashing Pittsburgh with defence anyway. Briere you may have noticed didn't play in the post-season. His own 8-game scorless slump at crunch time can't have helped his floundering outfit.

Looking back this fan wonders what might have happened if the Habs had been more insistent, patient and open to creative solutions to fit the man they knew was target #1. Now Dallas has him and we can only say we're impressed so far.