Boivin Parries And Thrusts

RDS is kind enough to remind me upon every entry to their site that there are only 3 days remaining until their blessed Anti-chambre launches a new season. 110%, renamed L'Attaque a Cinq (fitting that they have finally included attack in their name). And, the ubiquitous Rejean Tremblay is still producing his daily drivel.

What will happen in 3 days, if it hasn't happened already is the full-on debate about what has happened to the Canadiens over the summer. There will be moments spent lamenting Kovalev, I expect, before the whole discourse comes to rest on the question that has been looming for a long time: Are 3 French-speaking, Quebec-born players enough?

The barrage began early for the Canadiens defence. First Geoff Molson was accused of forming an ownership team that may not be Quebecoois enough. An astute parry from M. Molson reminded the pea-brained reporter that his family's got a Quebec heritage as rich as anyone's.

As Pat Hickey put it:

He pointed out the fact he is a seventh-generation Quebecer, his family has been here for more than 200 years and they have always been deeply involved in the community.

Boivin cites some statistics

Next it was Boivin's turn, and if you understand French, you should really go check it out on RDS's website, because the man can rattle off a volley and some with good sense in it as well.

The offensive blows he stung the reporter with were the high points. He noted, for instance, that there were 43 Quebecers in the NHL last season to play more than a 41 games. The Canadiens accounted for 8 of those (or 20ish percent). Assuming no massive shift to Quebec players league-wide, the Canadiens three will still account for more than their share.

He also explains to the blindfolded that cycles have played a role in this change. Noting that the QMJHL is not exactly in its heyday right at the moment.

Boivin gets pretty irritated by the end of the interview and is adamant that considering francophone issues is something that is at the heart of every decision made in the Canadiens organization, be it in the front office, in coaching, scouting or among the players. And, in allusion to the Lecavalier/St. Louis approaches that were widely speculated, he asserted that his team made big efforts to acquire Quebec players this past summer – that it was just not to be.


110% by its new name

Perhaps if they promise to bar M. Rinfret, i can concede they've changed more than the window dressing. Anyway, you can be the judge yourself as to whether the TQS (sorry, Tele V) crew has altered their tack or not. So long as it's got Jean Perron and his tangential rants, this show will always be the same proposition for me.

That night "L'attaque a cinq" took up the debate.
The debate segment of their Thursday show asked the question:

"Croyez-vous que le Canadien fait suffisamment d'efforts pour attirer des joueurs francophones à Montréal?"

In what promises to be the first of 150 nights treating this topic, Jean Perron appeared to win the day – but only in the Pierre McGuire (I'm the loudest) kind of way. No one sensible really got a word in edgewise.

Predictably, Jean's answer to the question was a very firm no. He was very proud of himself for citing Yannick Riendeau to Boston about 20 times over the 10 minutes as the prime exhibit in his argument.

Now, I may be unfair, because I've never had to face a raving lunatic on TV, but couldn't someone more astute have deflated Jean's Riendeau argument by mentioning that actually the Habs signed his teammate, Dany Masse, days later and have since drafted another Voltigeur, hired their minor league coach and invited Philippe Lefebvre to no less than two try-outs (BREAKING: now to main camp as well). Bring it on Jean, I'll take you, mate.


Rejean Tremblay

Well you can't count tenaciousness among M. Tremblay's weaknesse, of which there are many. He offers yet another thesis on the Canadiens and their connection with Quebec here.

Not much of it is new. Nor is it very convincing when his facts are invented (I prefer to trust the EU number which say 50% of Germans speak English, not 12% – after that I discounted those ridiculous stats).

After insulting Pierre Boivin's Frenchness and lauding his own patriotism by tourism, the bombshell he reserved is a report from Robert Sirois that will tell us about the league-wide conspiracy against Quebecers. I'll await the report, but don't we already know this stuff? Still 1,000 hours – give the man his piece.

As for Rejean, nothing but hot air from the hairdryer – nothing unexpected. If I didn't want to get my back up, I should know better than to follow that link. I offer you all the same warning.


More to come?

My guess is yes. And this is a surer bet than taking Ovechkin in a hockey pool. The issue is not resolved and so it will not be laid to rest.

The interesting thing is that the Perron's and the Tremblays of the world are starting to come across as out of touch as more and more fans of the team offer the olive branch to wait and see how this team does, as they hope for more wins, not better demographics.

We'll keep an eye, because this one will be a story. Your opinions, as always are welcome.

Scott Gomez Setting His Place At The Table

The first news or interview of note to come out of RDS in a long while, and wouldn't you just know it, the headline deals with French language courses.

I don't want to dismiss the story, because it's actually a very good bit of news on many levels. They certainly clipped up all the interviews nicely. But should we be worried that no more than ten seconds into his interview, Gomez was asked the question: Do you speak French? Do have any connection with the French players? In this case it works out nicely because Gomez has a response in pocket, but will Spacek, Gill, Moen and Cammalleri have to ready themselves for this opening salvo?

I'm not going to question the situation anymore than that. In the end, it was a great question by the reporter because it gave Scott a great opportunity to talk about all the efforts he is making to come and be accepted in this town.

Speaking of which. Though it's been rather overshadowed by the quote and response to that, it must be noted that Scott Gomez was the only new member of the Canadiens to even attend this charity golf event in August. I think that on its own is worth applauding. Clearly Scott Gomez is committed and very excited for his new opportunity in Montreal. Moving to the city (almost as soon as the trade happened), making friends with the guys that are in town and just getting adjusted to life and the media here. It's encouraging to see his commitment. People have jokingly suggested he be made captain on the spot for his enrollment with a French language tutor, but you know what it's not so daft. Commitment to this team, so early, before anyone else – it's quite an example to set.


Maxim Lapierre golf tournament

Was anyone else surprised to see a golf tournament named for Maxim Lapierre? I haven't been keeping a tab on what the August charity golf event has been called year on year, but I do know that last year it was named for Guy Carbonneau.

I don't mean it as a slight to Max, who's clearly taking on a bigger role in the community here, but it certainly says a lot about how the lay of the land in Montreal has changed when they're naming their golf tournament fundraiser for a second-year fourth line player, doesn't it?

Incidentally, reports are that they made a very respectable sum on the day for their charity and exceeded expectation. The golden egg was apparently the chance to play hockey with Scott Gomez and his new best buddies Lapierre and Latendresse at the Habs facility in Brossard. The generous donor paid $18,000 for the privilege.

If I was paying $18,000 for a hockey game, I'd leave out NHLers for fear I'd never touch the puck. Though, I might leave in Latendresse to help my footspeed look a little better than it is...


Tanguay loses it

The other interesting interview to come out of RDS was the Alex Tanguay bit.

From the outset, Tanguay looked riled. Clearly his ego has taken a few massive hits this summer and he's put out about the whole situation.

Now, we don't know why Tanguay hasn't been signed anywhere or why no one floated him an offer ahead of Brian Gionta or even Hal Gill (with that money) in Montreal. There probably is a reason. I don't know if I've ever seen Tanguay so animated before, but one thing that was coming across to me today as I watched his interview was that he's one of those lucky people in this world who can go through life without anything ever being their own fault.

His sensitivity about treatment from the media is probably right on. I just feel that you get to this point of the summer without a contract, maybe some reflection on what you've done and what you may change in the future could be in order. Maybe he has been doing that – it just didn't come across that way.

I'll tell you what I remember vividly from the season though. Without ever for a moment considering that any player in the dressing room other than Kovalev and Koivu were organising people to stand against Carbonneau in February, i saw a Tanguay interview. It was after the firing of Guy, and I tell you something clicked for me then. It must have been what he said, or how he said it, but it immediately gelled that he was a guy who was not happy with Carbonneau.

This is what I wrote at the time:

We all spoke about communication, but yesterday was a revelation to me. Dandenault complained about communication. Begin complained. Carbonneau never spoke to Tanguay? The gist of what the reporters were saying was that almost to a man, every Canadien was dissatisfied with how their coach treated them.

Tnaguay's a very good player. I'd suggest he calm himself down and let the past transgresisons of the past fade away. Whether rightly or wrongly he may saddle himself with the label of bad attitude if he's not careful.


Where's Georges Laraque?

Conspicuous in his absence from the Maxim Lapierre event was BGL. To a man, every other French Canadian player from the Habs last season was at the event. That included Lapierre and Latendresse, of course, a jilted Tanguay and cast-offs Bouillon, Dandenault and Brisebois.

Of the latter 2 groups, Tanguay, Bouillon and Dandenault had every reason not to be there, if you ask me. Voluntarily putting yourself out to face the media after the July they've had would be like having dinner with your ex's parents the weekend she dumped you for another guy. They've all been shown up to one degree or another, yet all trot up because they've made a commitment and because a good cause trumps even avoiding humiliation.

But Laraque? He's still on the Canadiens. He lives in the Montreal area. He says he cares about charity work. Where was he?

Maybe he wasn't invited. Maybe he turned it down. Maybe he had prior commitments. Who knows? Just strange that's all.


Anyway, whatever it is, it gives me a good segue to a recommendation for an article for all of you from The H Does Not Stand For Habs about "The 260 Pound Elephant in the Room". From earlier in the week, it's a brilliant article on Laraque and the exchanges JT has had with him. Read it if you have 5 minutes.

Language And Hockey

I don't want to wade too far into this quagmire, but a couple of really good articles have come up recently that made me think I should at least recommend them to you.

All will have noticed the amputation of the Quebecois arm of the Canadiens defence and the slow letting of some of the forward group as well. The comment has begun in some quarters and I recommend a read. At the very least it will prepare you with some background as you take in the doubtless numerous debates on this issue in l'Antichambre and 110% studios come September.

Anyway, here are the links:

No Dogs or Anglophones writes on the initial early July boycott that arose from the non-signings and signings that formed the 2009-10 Habs. The links within the piece are very educational and give a better idea of where the other side of the debate might be coming from.

And, yesterday new blogger Flying Frenchmen asked THE question. I hope he'll answer it too. I'm sure once he gets his feet in the blogosphere he'll be more willing to take on the storm... I responded on his blog, but only with regard to the biggest zealots on the issue who I feel will never be happy about the balance of the team – because happiness is not what they seek.


Aside on language: The RDS legacy

A bit of a tangent, I also wanted to note one very positive aspect of the language and the Canadiens lies with RDS. It's oft overlooked and even obscured as I criticise their journalistic integrity, but the fact remains if you are a fan of the Canadiens, RDS has been a boon.

Part of it is monopoly, of course. But a happy one, I'd suggest. Whether you are English, Spanish, Haitian, New Zealander, Finn, Quebecois or Manitoban you virtually have to watch the game in French. I say virtually because there are some alternatives: CBC on Saturdays, TSN once in a blue moon, or the old CJAD radio broadcast (if you can stand the ads and Murray Wilson's rambling – I can't). As such, we know that many fans of the team whose mother tongue is English will tune into the excellent Pierre Houde and his flailing side kick to take in the games.

I can only really speak from personal experience here, but watching hockey and hockey related programmes on RDS (everyone knows Sports 30 is Habs 26) has literally upped my French TV consumption by 100%. Were it not for this exposure and associated blogs and websites, my French would be woefully out of practice. Instead, I am very much in tune with my second language, and very pleased about that too. In fact, I'm happy that so many Habs fans across the country (if they can afford to bring RDS into their homes, that is) can enjoy this option as well.

And the great thing for the real fans of the French language is that it doesn't matter where the players on the ice are from really. The play-by-play, the comment, it's all in French (aside from Brunetisms) regardless of who's controlling the puck. It's great (free) practice for me – and honestly, where would I be without learning all the interesting ways that french pronunciation of Eastern European and other names differs from the English. Plekanetz? Malahoff? Derek Roy?

History Set Straight

I have much more to say on this, but for the time being, let this serve as your battery against any foray from bitter fans of any ilk who invoke the territorial rule as the reason for the Canadiens success (and perceived lack of it since the 1980s):

Debunking the Habs French Territorial Rights Rule

Happy anticipating... Go Habs Go

First, But Not Home and Away

All's rosy in Montreal. First place in March. It has been truly impressive.

However, a couple of nights ago, it was the West who clinched the rights to the President's trophy.

Even with all the positives floating around, I thought it would be worth a look at the reasons (I believe) that the Habs are not Detroit, not running away with the league or, indeed, the East title. In keeping with the accepted format, I'll list my 10 reasons here:

1. Michael Ryder – he's had some great games, even playing the standout role in a few important wins over the season. But, it remains that up until February or so, he was not playing first-line calibre hockey. He has scored 10 less goals than he normally would have, and less than half of what we might have hoped. His play in November in particular, before line 1B got going, probably cost the team some possible points. His play since February, however, probably played a big role in that much vaunted 10-3-1 since the Huet trade.

2. Young players – when you start the season with so many players under the age of 23, you should expect some nights dedicated to learning from mistakes. Carey Price certainly had a few before his competition for the number one job came from Slovakia, not France. Andrei Kostitsyn took a couple of months more learning than some might have hoped. Latendresse, also a mere 20 years of age, is learning how to play nightly.

3. The West – better than the East at the moment. When I say better, I refer to their top few teams, that is Detroit, Dallas, San Jose and Anaheim, all of whom handled the Habs with relative ease. More wins in the West would have added daylight between us and the pack. Not to worry, we have a couple of months to figure out how to do it...

4. Christopher Higgins – obviously not a bad player to have around. However, if Koivu was given a star winger, Higgins would not have to play the role that he has been trying to play for most of the season. Chris is a great player, but in only his 3rd season, may need more time to figure out how to be a top-line goalscorer. Chris has also done exactly what should have been expected of him, with steady improvement of his totals. Some wild predictions for him early, which had they come true, would have made him a 40-goalscorer and earned the Habs points in the standings.

5. Too many defensemen – signing Brisebois, playing Dandenault, these were early season mistakes. Now on the radio you will hear about rolling 4 forward lines. Well, that's not how it started in October. Playing 8 defensemen (sometime 2 up front), in hindsight, was clearly holding back the best offense in the league. The change, I think was made around the Sergei Kostitsyn move, what I think was an admission the original plan (including overloading with D) was going awry.

6. Goaltending choices – first and foremost, not playing Halak. Halak could have and should have played. He is a very good goalie who could have stolen points. Instead, Carey Price (in December) and Cristobal Huet (in February) were played, even when they probably needed some rest and recalibration.

7. French Canadians – Pascal Leclaire, Dany Sabourin, Martin St. Louis. Come on. Every French Canadian seems to play that much better in Montreal than anywhere else. Their superhuman efforts on some nights have cost the Habs.

8. Summer signings – Smolinski, Brisebois and Kostopoulos. Initially these players played more than they do now. Clearly, as the season progressed, they have found their proper roles. In addition to the signings that were made, consider the signings that were not made: Brian Rafalski, Teemu Selanne. These moves could have helped the Habs in the short-term garner more wins.

9. The plan – most of the above also fall in some way into this category. We didn't sign a scoring winger for Koivu because we chose to develop young players instead (NOTE: Gainey would have gladly obtained someone, provided the cost was acceptable – see Hossa – but not at the expense of people integral to his plan). Basically, I think even Bob Gainey would tell you this year has come sooner than anticipated. But consider that if Buffalo and Ottawa were gunning for 110+ points like a year earlier, the Habs would be in a fight for 5th. The Canadiens, in essence, are right where they planned to be, it's the rest of the teams that have slipped or fallen.

10. Jason Spezza and the Ottawa Senators – the antithesis of the Bruins. The Senators know the Canadiens have weaknesses and exploit them. They, as the best team in the East coming in, understand how to exploit a rookie defenseman and goalie. It's not magic what they do, it's called setting the tone. They know that if they set the tone, the Habs will begin to question how they can possibly climb back against Spezza, Alfredsson and co. Last game, the Habs set the tone and won. Is the lesson, therefore learned? Let's hope so.


All that realism, here's my disclaimer. As I said, I believe the Habs are right where they wanted to be and should be (maybe 4-5 points better, or a couple of Boston wins). This list should not be seen as a negative piece, but rather as a list of things that, in some cases could be improved, in order to step up to Detroit's level.

In some instances, the lessons have been learned on the fly. In fact, if you look at the pace since Game 29 or so, you'd see an upturn in the points-per-game average of the Habs: the 8 D is out the window, Price has learned a lot (as have other youngsters), Ryder has been steadily improving. To call it a season of two halves would be an exaggeration, but it would not be crazy to say this team has, especially since January, taken big steps beyond some its Eastern rivals.

As we know the quest for 96 is over, so we can look for 100+ and first and more importantly then move onto the quest for 32 more big points this spring...

Larry Robinson night: Can 'Sweet Lou' say dix-neuf?

Larry Robinson is having his number retired on Monday night. What a great way to remember one of the greatest defensemen to ever play the sport, and probably the greatest to play in Montreal.

Among the remarkable accomplishments being bandied about by blogsters and reporters ahead of the big event, the thing that stands out most is his winning of the Conn Smythe trophy in the 1978 Stanley Cup playoffs. On a team with a multiple Art Ross trophy-winner, a former 60 goalscorer, 8 future hall of famers, the most successful goalie (percentage-wise) to play post-WWII, and several Conn Smythe trophy winners and winners to be, the task was no easy feat. Perhaps even more impressive was him leading the playoffs in scoring that year.



In addition to all that Larry Robinson never once missed the playoffs. Of course, he played in a league where it was near impossible for a team like the Canadiens to ever miss, but he did keep the streak alive with the LA Kings, perhaps with a little help from Gretzky…

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Of all the reports on “Big Bird”, one in particular got my attention – probably for the wrong reasons. Francois Gagnon of La Presse (aka, the sane one on 110%) wrote at length about the ceremony, but his twist (or hook, if you will) was that Larry had quite an unusual choice as announcer for his ceremony.


It turns out, of all his friends and former teammates, Larry Robinson chose Lou Lamoriello to announce at the ceremony. Gagnon briefly points out that the Canadiens maintain that the choice was up to Larry and they had no say in the matter. However, before pondering a list of possible alternates, M. Gagnon feels the need to point out that Lamoriello is an anglophone American. In what may have well been a throw away line, he states: Yet another night where French is pushed aside:

Il faut dire que la sélection de Lamoriello, un anglophone américain, mettra une fois encore de côté le français dans cette portion de la cérémonie.

While it may be puzzling to us why Robinson chose Lamoriello for a ceremony recognizing his outstanding play and contribution to the Canadiens, I’m sure it would be no mystery if we all got a chance to hear what Larry had to say about it. I can only speculate that Robinson and Lamoriello are very good friends and Larry wanted him to be there in some official capacity.

Although I don't think it was a well-thought out gibe at the Canadiens for laying the French language battle aside for a few minutes while they honour a great player, it's the recurring nature of these comments that gets me going. This could have been a story about Komisarek or Higgins after a game, or Koivu visiting children or Markov giving his first interview of the season.

Quite frankly, I could just shrug my shoulders and say “That’s just how they are”, but I don’t think that’s right. If I didn’t think it affected the team in any way, then I could let it slide, but let’s face it, it does. I think it's time the Canadiens are left alone to think about putting together a dominant season for the first time in ages. The Bell Centre should be a battleground for well fought hockey games, language battles have their place elsewhere.

Here I was innocently thinking Gagnon’s blog title “Sans ligne rouge” referred to hockey, when it may be that the red line he was referring to was the three rows of General Wolfe’s men who loosened the French hold on North America (and hence the NHL) on the plains of Abraham.

Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I hope he can stick to the stuff going on the painted ice from now on.

In any case, here's to Larry and his friends having a great night...

Introducing Koivu, Habs announcer

Now that everyone else has weighed in on the Koivu affair, it seems like among the bloggers at least, Koivu is well respected and lawyer Guy is not.

To be expected I suppose.

While Koivu didn't score a hat trick as I asked him to. He did put in a mighty fine performance in both hockey and language for the night.

So who else can we get to complain about his language skills?

Hi knowledge of the language could be inversely proportional to the number of points he gets...

Maybe Italian Montrealers are feeling disenfranchised and would like a little bit of the intro in Italian next time. Koivu 5 goals.

Or, for the Greeks, Koivu could welcome them to the Bell Centre and announce each goal in their native tongue. Koivu 11 points, NHL record.

Who knows. Just don't get him to do it in Finnish then.

Let's go Habs. Big game tonight. I hope Koivu can bring some more of Thursday's energetic erformance to the table.

Sans dix pourcent

Sometimes you have to wonder if some people ever think about turning on the other 95%...

Check out Guy Bertrand's (only previously known to me as Leon Mugesera's lawyer) latest thoughts in this article on the Gazette website.


Like a petulant child, he is now turning against anything and everything that could be blamed for his dream of an independent Quebec going a bit sour. One of the latest victims:

Saku Koivu!

Bertrand, a flamboyant Quebec City lawyer and hockey fan, was critical of the Finnish-born Koivu's failure "to respect the right of Quebecers to be served in French."

In an apparent need to prove himself a total ignoramus (and lead us all to question why he's quoted in the newspapers at all), he goes on to say:

He has been playing for 12 years (for the Canadiens). He is married to a francophone. It demonstrates contempt for our language. It is not respectful."

Of course we all know, as does Kevin Dougherty of the Gazette, that Koivu's wife is not francophone at all, she of course is Finnish.

My main issue is not that this ne'er-do-well is speaking out, that I don't care about. It's that political parties in our province take this sort of thing semi-seriously. The leader of the PQ did not dismiss the ideas outright, apparently quite open to forcing adult hockey players to learn French.

Do Bertrand and Marois realise that hockey players play hockey. That's the way they entertain people. Saku Koivu is not paid 5 million odd dollars a year to entertain through his interviews and his introductions. Neither is Chris Higgins or Andrei Markov. He is not robbing Guy Bertrand of his right to be served in his own language. He is serving Bertrand (should he choose to watch) in virtual silence for 60 minutes every other night.

I'll stop here. If I were to meet M. Bertrand, I would suggest he go down to the local bookshop, pick up a Finnish-French dictionary and translate his petty accusations into Finnish. He could then recite his pleas without seeming such a hypocrite and a bully.


Maybe Saku doesn't have the right to be addressed in his native Finnish, but he has certainly deserves the courtesy after all the positive things he has done for the city of Montreal.

Brisebois offer a mistake

In an off-season that is producing a lot of steps in the wrong direction for the league (Kevin Lowe!) as well as the Habs (Smolinski, Kostopoulos), this move fits right into the senselessness.

What on earth could Bob Gainey be thinking offering a contract to Brisebois? A player who was the original untradeable burden we experienced in Montreal. With his swagger and arrogance, he eventually forgot what little he knew about playing hockey and turned full time into a giveaway machine. Never one to shy away from a hit, oh I meant never one to not shy away from a hit, he could make Sheldon Souray look like a Norris trophy winner. So what is it about him then?

Do we need an extra defenseman? Not as far as I can see: Markov, Komisarek, Hamrlik, Streit, Bouillon, Dandenault, Gorges, Valentenko, O'Byrne, ...

Does it increase competition for a position? Well not for the top four it doesn't, as Brisebois never measured up to that calibre. Maybe for the 6th spot. I think there would have been enough competition for that place anyway. Besides what kind of message is: To make the team you just have to be a bit better than an aging Patrice Brisebois?

Do we need a French speaking star? Yes. But he's no star. An extra French voice for post-game interviews? I hope it's not this.

Are we moving Streit to forward permanently? I hope not, as our forward group is stronger than the defense. Not only will Streit eventually lose out, but a lesser player will take his place at the back.

Is it a move for veteran presence? Again? Isn't that the only conceivable explanation as to why we got Smolinski?

Maybe there are no other options on the free agent market. A quick look shos me that there are many UFA options. Berard or Markov would be alright, I suppose. At least they have no horrible painful history here. Then, there are plenty of one-year 6th D options out there.

I must say I had nothing against Brisebois as a Hab in the early days, but once he started taking things for granted and coasting and throwing his arms up after every goal, I soured. I soured hard, and it stills smarts, so I'm not ready for the goodbye tour, if that's quite alright.

In my opinion, this offer defies all logic. Let's hope the self-centered, arrogant, golf-course pissing, Ferrari-driving, thinks he deserves everything based on his Cup ring, "defenseman" also defies all logic and turns down the offer.

To Trade Huet?

Trade Huet? Some recent posts of fans have been looking at trading Huet as a solid strategy for the future. That's lunacy in my books – I'll tell you why.

1) Experience. Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak combine for 40 odd years between the two of them. This is Montreal, there will be 3-4 game losing streaks. They need help getting through those

2) Mentorship. Cristobal Huet is a class act. He is calm, intelligent and well spoken. Whoever our next goalie is could learn a lot from his demeanour and approach to the game. He is an excellent mentor for whoever would back him up, or who he backs up.

3) Hamilton. Keeping the winning going in Hamilton would be a good thing. Look at Buffalo and New Jersey. Those two teams benefit from farm systems that commit to winning. Winning breeds winners and that's what we want. What could be better than having the number one regular season AHL goalie (Halak) or the Calder Cup MVP goalie (Price) leading our other assets down there.

4) French language. Huet is French, he gives great, clear, intelligent interviews in French (and English). Keeping his voice in there provides good analysis of events for the RDS gang – who cover every minute of the Habs season.

5) Trade value. Huet's value has never been lower since he won that streak of games back in February 2006. Trading him would not return value. Trading Price would, his value has never been higher, and his potential probably got an upgrade too. Halak may be seen as a flash in the pan, but he did post amazing AHL numbers then translated that to the NHL. Not shabby. His value is high too (only limited by his size).

6) Depth. Beyond Halak and Price, the goalies aren't exactly mind-blowing. 3 NHL-capable goalies is depth, 2 is thin. Remember when Roy used to get injured? Not good in the post-Hayward years...

7) Finally, Huet is good. He could have won the Vezina two years ago with a few more games. He was an allstar last year.His play up to December (barring early October) was sensational – top 3 in GAA and save %. A slip in play in January/February saw his fortunes slide. I don't think the losing was all his fault.


Don't trade Huet. There's no good reason to do so in my opinion.

We can't absorb Briere

I for one will be extremely disappointed if we choose to spend 6 million a year on Daniel Briere. Even though this is the new NHL, and he has proven himself to be very well suited to the new conditions, I only have to watch how the league changes at playoff time to know how bad an idea that would be. Daniel Briere has his benefits, but taken in the context of the bulk of the players we have, I don't think he fits. I'll weight up what I think he could offer us below:

1) A French Canadian superstar.
At this point in time, I think this is imperative. The team can't afford to be dragged through the whole language war every time they lose 2 games in a row. Some members of the media are itching for a homegrown (and not Brandon Reed) star. I don’t think they’ll go away. In fact, they’ll continue to create a mess until the big star they crave is brought in. Daniel Briere is a Quebecer, and a star, but not a superstar.

7/10

2) A first line centre.
I am happy with Koivu on the first line, but he’s pulling a young Higgins and a one-dimensional Ryder all by himself. A 1b centre to get Kovalev going or take one of Higgins or Ryder off Koivu’s hands would help. Definitely desirable, if not necessary. Briere seems to fit this bill too. 95 points show that. I think he’s still a lesser player than Koivu. I haven’t seen the extra gear for the playoffs, and I don’t see 95 points if it’s 2 equal lines at the top.

8/10

3) Size.
Diminutive. Manages to look even smaller than he is.

2/10

4) Value for the cap hit.
5-6 million dollars for Koivu Mark II seems a little bit rich. Even if he continues to develop and becomes a 100-point man on the Habs. Elevates Kovalev on his off nights, and exceeds realistic best-case-scenario expectations, 6 million will prevent the team from getting the defenseman they really need.

5/10

5) A locker room leader/example
No reason to doubt Briere here. Two long playoff runs, a first place run. Has earned his way into the league.

8/10


A bit too expensive for his potential contributions to our team. A bit too small to meet the hole in our team. And, not a big enough star to carry the whole expectation on his own. Overall, I don't think Briere is what we need. It would be a shame to sign him just because he's the only one available.

I also think it would create a him or Koivu situation in the future, where we would be looking for the big/crashing centre that we should be looking for now. Koivu is cheaper for the moment, and coming off a good season. Better to keep the known quantity I think in this case.

If I were Gainey, I'd be looking into the possibility of getting Patrick Marleau. Sign Souray and trade him for Marleau. Ideally Lecavalier would be the one, but I fear he's in Tampa for a while longer...