Big response from readers on this. Thanks.
Looks like most want Gomez gone (as well as Pyatt). Kostitsyn has few supporters and Moen only has a bout one more than him.
I don't know if trade when value is lowest is going to get this team anywhere, but that's the word of the people.
Does Gomez read this blog? Someone gave him a four and put him ahead of Cammalleri...
Those who haven't had their voice heard, the poll is still open:
Showing posts with label deadline. Show all posts
Showing posts with label deadline. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Hilarity Ensues
Yesterday, Brian Burke made his second (in what promises a fortnight with many more) trade of the NHL GM working season. This time, he traded Kris (we hardly knew thee) Versteeg to Philly for draft picks. I listened to the conference call about the trade, and it was typical Burke. He’s already offered the 3rd rounder he got for a player – he seems to insinuate this player will be better than Versteeg?
He hasn’t ruled out trading the first round pick (why would he?) – someone audibly groaned on the call at the sound of that. And he has set his sights on the free agent market – also known as everyone rushes to try and sign Brad Richards lest end up with any one of the other 200 guys.
It made me think of a recent round of Balderdash – the game where you are read a word, a date or a movie title and are tasked with inventing a definition. One of the quirks of the game is that the words “hilarity ensues” generally come up at least once per sitting ¬ generally a hilarious moment itself.
“Hilarity ensues” is a common enough sign off for movie descriptions on the Balderdash cards themselves, and as a result has been adopted by canny players who attempt to imitate the true answers in form and style. A ridiculous title can be associated with almost any plot with this device. “Hilarity ensues” is a key to open endless character combinations and nonsensical premises.
Imagine for a moment a title like “The Toronto Maple Leafs” as I did after listening to Burke speaking to Toronto media. The answers really do write themselves, provided you always end with “hilarity ensues”.
Brian Burke repeatedly assures the media his team will be driving for that last playoff spot, …
The story of a scoring line built around Tyler Bozak, …
Maple Leafs make a series of trades to improve their team, …
Maple Leafs target truculent players via free agency, …
Torontonians open the 1967-68 NHL season with a Stanley Cup and full of optimism for the future, …
Toronto Maple Leafs fans breathe a sigh of relief as they see the end of their worst management regime in years. Cliff Fletcher poses with Brian Burke to pass the torch, …
Hilarity will likely ensue for a while, because there’s little funnier than a guy who truly does believe himself to be in the top cut of world genius making basic mistakes at every turn. I wouldn’t be surprised if Burke turned out for a ceremonial faceoff next week with his underwear outside his trousers.
Hilarity will ensue because the more obvious his errors become the more pig-headed he becomes about admitting to them. He really is quite entertaining.
As a Habs fan, it’s an enjoyable sideshow. Ferguson got us through some rough times and Burke is helping with the Houle healing process. Though I think we’d all like it better if Burke stayed away from anymore team building activities in Boston and Philly for a while.
The best part of Brian Burke’s interview (besides his smugness and his Toronto media stroking) for fans of hilarity (and other teams in the NHL) was his announcement that there is more to come. I, for one, can’t wait to see who Burke wrests away from the unsuspecting Detroit GM for his third rounder. Nikita Filatov or someone of his ilk, can’t be far away from Pearson International if a first rounder is being floated.
Brian Burke woke up on February 15th, assets in hand, ready to pick up the pieces he needed to get his team into the 2010-11 playoff, …
He hasn’t ruled out trading the first round pick (why would he?) – someone audibly groaned on the call at the sound of that. And he has set his sights on the free agent market – also known as everyone rushes to try and sign Brad Richards lest end up with any one of the other 200 guys.
It made me think of a recent round of Balderdash – the game where you are read a word, a date or a movie title and are tasked with inventing a definition. One of the quirks of the game is that the words “hilarity ensues” generally come up at least once per sitting ¬ generally a hilarious moment itself.
“Hilarity ensues” is a common enough sign off for movie descriptions on the Balderdash cards themselves, and as a result has been adopted by canny players who attempt to imitate the true answers in form and style. A ridiculous title can be associated with almost any plot with this device. “Hilarity ensues” is a key to open endless character combinations and nonsensical premises.
Imagine for a moment a title like “The Toronto Maple Leafs” as I did after listening to Burke speaking to Toronto media. The answers really do write themselves, provided you always end with “hilarity ensues”.
Brian Burke repeatedly assures the media his team will be driving for that last playoff spot, …
The story of a scoring line built around Tyler Bozak, …
Maple Leafs make a series of trades to improve their team, …
Maple Leafs target truculent players via free agency, …
Torontonians open the 1967-68 NHL season with a Stanley Cup and full of optimism for the future, …
Toronto Maple Leafs fans breathe a sigh of relief as they see the end of their worst management regime in years. Cliff Fletcher poses with Brian Burke to pass the torch, …
Hilarity will likely ensue for a while, because there’s little funnier than a guy who truly does believe himself to be in the top cut of world genius making basic mistakes at every turn. I wouldn’t be surprised if Burke turned out for a ceremonial faceoff next week with his underwear outside his trousers.
Hilarity will ensue because the more obvious his errors become the more pig-headed he becomes about admitting to them. He really is quite entertaining.
As a Habs fan, it’s an enjoyable sideshow. Ferguson got us through some rough times and Burke is helping with the Houle healing process. Though I think we’d all like it better if Burke stayed away from anymore team building activities in Boston and Philly for a while.
The best part of Brian Burke’s interview (besides his smugness and his Toronto media stroking) for fans of hilarity (and other teams in the NHL) was his announcement that there is more to come. I, for one, can’t wait to see who Burke wrests away from the unsuspecting Detroit GM for his third rounder. Nikita Filatov or someone of his ilk, can’t be far away from Pearson International if a first rounder is being floated.
Brian Burke woke up on February 15th, assets in hand, ready to pick up the pieces he needed to get his team into the 2010-11 playoff, …
Monday, February 14, 2011
Canadiens Deadline Assets
Everyone wants a new star player. Too obvious.
But to get in this league, you have to give. Just how willing are you to give when it comes to the Canadiens assets. Have a turn in the GM's seat and tell us what you think of your trade assets.
But to get in this league, you have to give. Just how willing are you to give when it comes to the Canadiens assets. Have a turn in the GM's seat and tell us what you think of your trade assets.
Friday, February 22, 2008
To Trade or Not to Trade
The Habs have just one more game to play before the trade deadline. That game is against Columbus on Saturday night - a team that just did us a huge favour by beating Ottawa. The busiest man in town over the next 4 days may very well be Bob Gainey. Not only is he going to be in the spotlight come trade day, but, on the 23rd, he will also become the 14th (or 16th - still unknown) player in Habs history to have his number raised to the roof. It will no doubt be a hectic few days for one of the most well respected men in hockey.
We have all heard the rumours that we are involved in talks for absolutely every player in the NHL. If you ever visit Eklund's site you will have noticed that in order to bring in readers (especially readers from big markets like Montreal) the Habs are involved in a new rumour daily. This genius has a great system for announcing a trade - he reads it on TSN then quickly posts it on his site. He claims to be an insider with a lot of knowledge about hockey, but if you read his site you would realize that he is not close to being that at all. The Habs of course have not made a trade every day this year and wouldn't you know it haven't made a deal since last February. This doesn't mean some of the stuff on his site won't come true, because after all he has posted every possible trade that could be made so if one does go down I am sure he can find some sort of reference to it - likely posted in August.
Habs fans, thanks to too many unfounded rumours, are a bit too excited this time around about the prospect of us landing a big name player. People are having a hard time seeing that we have 75 points, that we are 1 point out of first and that we are having our best season in years. In typical Montreal fashion the mob wants more, more, more. Ryder only has 12 goals, but we have 75 points - trade him. Koivu isn't following up a career year with another career year - trade him. Higgins scored most of his goals in the first half - trade him. Kovalev is and always was my favorite player, I never booed him - un-tradeable. Unfortunately Habs fans are like kids in a way - they always want something new and exciting, they can't remember anything beyond a month ago and they will more often than not do what everyone else is doing; whether that means booing certain people or getting off one bandwagon and onto another.
We have to be extremely careful with what we hope for and we should all realize that in order to get someone good at this stage in the year you are going to have to give something up, something big. Most fans can't understand why a package of Dandenault, Smolinski, Ryder and Brisebois wouldn't be enough for Hossa, I mean it's 4 for 1 why wouldn't Atlanta do it? If getting a big name player is going to cost us a star or a potential star then it is something we should think long and hard about. We don't want to fall into the trap of trading away our future just because we think this is the year. Teams like Atlanta, Toronto and Edmonton have all made deadline deals in the past few years that were intended to make them better. It may have made them slightly better than they would have been in that year's playoffs, but beyond that we all know what happened to those teams. Smart teams are teams like Detroit and Ottawa who stick with their guys and stick with a plan, even if it takes years, occasionally making minor adjustments.
Not all trades are bad of course and sometimes there can actually be 2 winners in a trade. The last time we won the cup we sacrificed players like Courtnall, Chelios, Corson and my all-time favorite Skrudland to get the missing pieces - Damphousse, Savard, Leaman and Bellows. So it is tough to say - trade or not. At least 18 teams make deals at the end that think give them a shot, but at the end of the day there can only be one winner, thus only one GM can look like a genius. I would probably chalk all of that up to luck rather than strategy as the 'missing piece' is often not what you think it is. Last year it wasn't Tkachuk, Comrie, Guerin, it may just have been Brad May.
Whether the Habs land Hossa, Jokinen, Sundin or Tanguay or stay absolutely still may make no difference at all. If we are going to have to give some of the future for to gain a bit in the now then it is a very risky game to play. We have the makings of a great team with great chemistry, not just for this year, but for many years to come. Any deal that we make now could be one-step forward for 2008 and 2-steps back in our overall development. We have been putting this team together for 15 years now and I think that we finally have the team that we all had hoped for. With a little patience and trust in Bob then I am sure we will come out of next Tuesday's deadline bonanza with a team that will not only be competitive this year, but will indeed challenge for the cup in the very near future - and, that may very well mean no moves at all.
We have all heard the rumours that we are involved in talks for absolutely every player in the NHL. If you ever visit Eklund's site you will have noticed that in order to bring in readers (especially readers from big markets like Montreal) the Habs are involved in a new rumour daily. This genius has a great system for announcing a trade - he reads it on TSN then quickly posts it on his site. He claims to be an insider with a lot of knowledge about hockey, but if you read his site you would realize that he is not close to being that at all. The Habs of course have not made a trade every day this year and wouldn't you know it haven't made a deal since last February. This doesn't mean some of the stuff on his site won't come true, because after all he has posted every possible trade that could be made so if one does go down I am sure he can find some sort of reference to it - likely posted in August.
Habs fans, thanks to too many unfounded rumours, are a bit too excited this time around about the prospect of us landing a big name player. People are having a hard time seeing that we have 75 points, that we are 1 point out of first and that we are having our best season in years. In typical Montreal fashion the mob wants more, more, more. Ryder only has 12 goals, but we have 75 points - trade him. Koivu isn't following up a career year with another career year - trade him. Higgins scored most of his goals in the first half - trade him. Kovalev is and always was my favorite player, I never booed him - un-tradeable. Unfortunately Habs fans are like kids in a way - they always want something new and exciting, they can't remember anything beyond a month ago and they will more often than not do what everyone else is doing; whether that means booing certain people or getting off one bandwagon and onto another.
We have to be extremely careful with what we hope for and we should all realize that in order to get someone good at this stage in the year you are going to have to give something up, something big. Most fans can't understand why a package of Dandenault, Smolinski, Ryder and Brisebois wouldn't be enough for Hossa, I mean it's 4 for 1 why wouldn't Atlanta do it? If getting a big name player is going to cost us a star or a potential star then it is something we should think long and hard about. We don't want to fall into the trap of trading away our future just because we think this is the year. Teams like Atlanta, Toronto and Edmonton have all made deadline deals in the past few years that were intended to make them better. It may have made them slightly better than they would have been in that year's playoffs, but beyond that we all know what happened to those teams. Smart teams are teams like Detroit and Ottawa who stick with their guys and stick with a plan, even if it takes years, occasionally making minor adjustments.
Not all trades are bad of course and sometimes there can actually be 2 winners in a trade. The last time we won the cup we sacrificed players like Courtnall, Chelios, Corson and my all-time favorite Skrudland to get the missing pieces - Damphousse, Savard, Leaman and Bellows. So it is tough to say - trade or not. At least 18 teams make deals at the end that think give them a shot, but at the end of the day there can only be one winner, thus only one GM can look like a genius. I would probably chalk all of that up to luck rather than strategy as the 'missing piece' is often not what you think it is. Last year it wasn't Tkachuk, Comrie, Guerin, it may just have been Brad May.
Whether the Habs land Hossa, Jokinen, Sundin or Tanguay or stay absolutely still may make no difference at all. If we are going to have to give some of the future for to gain a bit in the now then it is a very risky game to play. We have the makings of a great team with great chemistry, not just for this year, but for many years to come. Any deal that we make now could be one-step forward for 2008 and 2-steps back in our overall development. We have been putting this team together for 15 years now and I think that we finally have the team that we all had hoped for. With a little patience and trust in Bob then I am sure we will come out of next Tuesday's deadline bonanza with a team that will not only be competitive this year, but will indeed challenge for the cup in the very near future - and, that may very well mean no moves at all.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
On Holiday
I have to admit my posts have been a bit scarce the past few weeks. I have been on holiday and will be until March. On holiday in body, but not in spirit from the life of the Habs fan.
Writing from a slow connection in an internet cafe means I can't add much to what Tobalev is doing these days. I will say these few things though:
a) The Habs are in good position. As I said they may slump, but the time they usually realise the playoffs are looming is, well looming. They won't mail too many in from here on in.
b) Taking advantage of teams we like to beat (such as Philly), will decide whether we get home ice or not.
c) The trade deadline should be at least as or less interesting than last year when Josh Gorges was our main acquisition. The Habs position at the moment does not scream Cup contender needing one last upgrade. The sale of players is also off the cards.
Gainey has been a King of the small deal, though. So look for any deals to affect the team in future years, if not this one.
Have a good trade deadline everyone. Let's keep the Habs going towards those valuable 96 points.
Go Habs Go.
Writing from a slow connection in an internet cafe means I can't add much to what Tobalev is doing these days. I will say these few things though:
a) The Habs are in good position. As I said they may slump, but the time they usually realise the playoffs are looming is, well looming. They won't mail too many in from here on in.
b) Taking advantage of teams we like to beat (such as Philly), will decide whether we get home ice or not.
c) The trade deadline should be at least as or less interesting than last year when Josh Gorges was our main acquisition. The Habs position at the moment does not scream Cup contender needing one last upgrade. The sale of players is also off the cards.
Gainey has been a King of the small deal, though. So look for any deals to affect the team in future years, if not this one.
Have a good trade deadline everyone. Let's keep the Habs going towards those valuable 96 points.
Go Habs Go.
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