Speaking Of 1993 Complexes

Fair's fair. Call out Toronto's fans on their unhealthy obsession with the year of the Kings and we must certainly point the finger to those in our own brethren who haven't latched onto anything else for 16 years.


Serge Savard, our prospective owner, Senator, good-will ambassador and one-time GM revealed yesterday that he has one of the unhealthiest. Second only perhaps to Jacques Demers. This article from RDS gives a little insight into why Bob Gainey might have moved so uncharacteristically in haste to sign Jacques Martin up. Lest he be saddled with the RDS broadcast team as his next-in commands.

Should he have been successful in championing the BCE money in their Canadiens venture, Serge Savard in his capacity as owner's spokesperson would have liked to put forward his coach from 1993, Jacques Demers, for the now filled head coach post.

Demers had no problem revealing the rumour himself (surprise, surprise) and even went so far to comment on his prospective staff for the upcoming year:

"Je voulais avoir Benoît Brunet, sans aucun doute, et Éric Desjardins, que j’admire et respecte comme défenseur. J’aurais probablement gardé Kirk Muller aussi. Je me serais entouré d’anciens gagnants de la coupe Stanley de 1993", a déclaré Demers, dont la carrière d’entraîneur a été mise sur les blocs après une deuxième saison difficile à la barre du Lightning de Tampa Bay en 1999.

Brunet as assistant, no doubt about that (feeling nauseous); Desjardins and Muller; to be supplemented by others from 1993 (of course). Might I suggest Racicot as goaltending coach and Roberge as special consultant?

The good thing about Demers is that he would come equipped with a plan that we've all already read, which I commented on in the now hauntingly apt-again title "Sometimes You Thank Your Stars They Are Just On TV":

Wow, that was heavy. Jacques Demers, being the Don Cherry of French Canadian TV is prone to saying stupid things off the cuff. But these were some of the worst. I'm just glad he's no longer associated with the decision making for this team and that he is kept at a safe distance from the ice in the RDS press box...

His changes are here.

Koivu is out. Kovalev and Tanguay in. He'd resign Plekanec, but be willing to trade him. Latendresse and Lapierre make up two of the others in our formidable 6 remaining forwards according to Jacques. The Ds remain for the most part. He does then boot Halak to let Marc Denis reclaim NHL glory as a backup.

If his grip on the new administration stretched as far as the GM's office, he'd be pursuing loads of free agents to fill the gaps. He'd also trade the Kostitsyns, Plekanec, Gorges and Halak for Lecavalier and St. Louis (I'm surprised Tamps hasn't made this trade already!).


So we play along. We indulge, M. Savard and Demers.

Mesdames et Messieurs, vos Canadiens de 2009-2010:

Dirigeant general/General Manager, Bob Gainey
Entraineur des gardiens/Goaltending coach, Andre Racicot
Entraineur adjoint/Assistant coach, Kirk Muller
Entraineur adjoint/Assistant coach, Eric Desjardins
Entraineur adjoint/Assistant coach, Benoit Brunet
Entraineur chef/Head coach, Jacques Demers

(At this point, to the strained sounds of Queen's We Are The Champions, Demers parades a foil cup around the ice stopping to kiss it 93 times)

Numero 3/Number 3: Ryan O'Byrne
Numero 4/Number 4: Vincent Lecavalier
Numero 8/Number 8: Mike Komisarek
...

You get the point, but here's his depth chart:

Tanguay – Lecavalier – Kovalev
D’Agostini – Antropov – St-Louis
Latendresse – Lapierre - Neil
Laraque – Metropolit – Laperrière

Markov – Komisarek
Hamrlik – Beauchemin
Havelid – Leopold

Substitut : Weber, Stewart, O’Byrne


(Here's the balance sheet: +15 million over the cap)


Anyone think we chose the wrong Jacques now? Are we a bit relieved Rejean Houle never made enough money to buy this team?

Sometimes You Thank The Stars They Are Just On TV...

Jacques Demers is the latest broadcaster/analyst to whip off a quick who stays, who goes article; despite the fact everyone stays until July 1 nearly two months away (barring trades of course, but this is Bob Gainey we're talking about).

His analysis over the season left me wanting, but I thought he improved with time. This latest analysis is his worst work in my working memory.

Now, I have plans and work in progress to present my own reflections on all these comings and goings, but I thought I would pick a few gems from Jacques to have a go at:

1) "Je n’hésite pas, j’accorde un nouveau contrat à Kovalev."

I wish I had the links (maybe I'll find them), but Jacques you hesitated massively. This is the manic depressive talking here. The minute Kovalev has 10 good games without a goal, Demers will have forgotten his sudden willingness to pay Kovy.

This comment goes with the rest of the article, in that you can see it was put together over a fifteen minute period.


2) "Il n’y a aucun doute, je garde les services d’Alex Tanguay."

Except that you seem to be willing to despatch our proven scorer and captain in Koivu. I think there's plenty of doubt, stemming mainly from the fact he was not a big contributor when he wasn't surrounded by the best. Can we afford to pay for someone who needs so much support to make goals? I think we probably can, personally. But there's at least some doubt.


3) "Je n’hésite pas une seule seconde et j’offre une nouvelle entente à cet ailier qui a démontré une belle progression." (Guillaume Latendresse)

Pardon me for noticing guys, but Guillaume did not improve this year. He certainly relished the chance to have his status downgraded from scoring prospect to checking line winger, but as he is not great defensively nor a great bodychecker (although a frequent one), one must surely question this re-up. particularly in light of Demers keeping both Higgins and Plekanec, both better players who'll also be looking for less responsibility on the third or fourth line.

There's a lot of hesitation here for me as it becomes clear that Guillaume may top out as a not-so-scary or physical winger who can score 16-18 goals from now on. I'd give him another chance (for obvious reasons), but would easily trade him if even a decent offer came through.


And the insane comment that kick-started this article:

4) "Je ne doute pas une seule seconde que Denis mérite un autre contrat pour servir de police d’assurance."

What on earth? More hyperbole from Jacques about no doubt. Funny the guys he has no doubt about...

Marc Denis, after Georges Laraque, was the unmitigated failure of a signing for the year. Can you remember when Halak was struggling to stop a puck in early January? Denis seemed to be in line for minutes (he got domes from the bench – that's how bad Halak was), but Carbonneau at the time would have none of this guy. There was no confidence whatsoever in the goalie from Hamilton.

Even his record in Hamilton is sketchy. He started out really well (as would be expected of a 31 year-old first round pick in a league beneath him), then e came up to Montreal. after his redemotion he had a horrid stretch and then bounced back. Hamilton squeezed into the playoffs where they were (and Marc in particular) a sorry bunch.

He is not an answer for Hamilton next year, let alone Montreal. It should be so long and thanks for all the fish...


Wow, that was heavy. Jacques Demers, being the Don Cherry of French Canadian TV is prone to saying stupid things off the cuff. But these were some of the worst. I'm just glad he's no longer associated with the decision making for this team and that he is kept at a safe distance from the ice in the RDS press box...