What's Next For Les Canadiens?

wprager wrote:I didn't say he was Burkian, but his dealings with the Sens organization have certainly shown him in a different light. He may not have shown that stab-you-in-the-heart style ouot on the ice, but it's there.

Plus they need goals. Komisarek and Orr aren't going to score mre than 5 goals between the two of them.

true enough, you are right on that one, Blake isn't going to score that many goals, and he is a smallish player. I can just imagine how he would be received at scotiabank place in the blue and white of the Laughs, I hope Neil would pummel the crap out of him on the first face off. maybe they will sign Antropov back at the 5.5 he wants :^^^^:

The Habs look rather different right now:

Forward lines (projected)
Gomez-Gionta-Cammalleri
Kostitsyn-Plekanec-Kostitsyn
Latendresse-Lapierre-D'Agostini
Stewart-Metropolit-Laraque
Pacioretty, Chipchura

D (presumed):
Markov-Spacek
Hamrlik-Gorges
Gill-Weber (?)
O'Byrne/Subban

G Price, Halak

Still a ways to go before training camp...but with the UFAs Gainey picked up, the Habs should have more hustle..and with Gill, some more muscle.

Weber is an awesome defensemen.

Big T wrote:Weber is an awesome defenseman.

Agreed.

Gainey's already made them a better t-e-a-m...and the expectations will be adjusted realistically for next season.

Somewhat ironic, isn't it...when I went to the Bell Centre to see the Habs-Hawks game last season, I was struck by the presence of huge posters all over the side of the building and the entrance from the Metro...

Images of Kovalev, Komisarek, Koivu, Tanguay side by side with images of Canadiens legends.

Gone. Just like that.

lol, plek is taking the team to arbitration, azif!

The madness continues in Montreal, please if there is a god sign kovy.

SpezDispenser wrote:

wprager wrote:The Leafs need Heatley. There. I said it. It's out now.

Edit: It appears I said it in the wrong thread.

It's only the wrong thread if you think that Heatley will be good for them.
Personally, I'd love to see Heatley mentor their rookies and young-uns. It'd ensure long-term success of everyone else in the NorthEast.

Apparently some fans rallied outside Le Centre Bell protesting for the organization to re-sign Kovalev, . :^^^: Things are going to get ugly

Dash wrote:Apparently some fans rallied outside Le Centre Bell protesting for the organization to re-sign Kovalev, . :^^^: Things are going to get ugly

I see him heading to LA or something like that, definitely not Montreal. Koviu is the 1 out of those 3 you want to keep.

Well the fans don't seem to think so.... just goes to show you how messed up things are.

Dash wrote:Well the fans don't seem to think so.... just goes to show you how messed up things are.

Toronto looks like the only canadian team in the northeast without any drama going on, Burke must be loving this.

wprager wrote:

Acrobat wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

wprager wrote:The Leafs need Heatley. There. I said it. It's out now.

Edit: It appears I said it in the wrong thread.

It's only the wrong thread if you think that Heatley will be good for them.
Personally, I'd love to see Heatley mentor their rookies and young-uns. It'd ensure long-term success of everyone else in the NorthEast.

I'd love to see Heatley go to the Leafs if only to have a good chuckle over Burke's back-pedaling over his initial statements. Oh, and to see Neil lining him up 6 times a year.

make sure Neil gets his elbow up on those hits or ensure he hits the shoulder, taking him down for the rest of the year.

SeawaySensFan wrote:Apparently Kovalev is out of the picture...

[url=http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=283860

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=283860[/quote[/url]]

Crap, they say he will not return to Montreal next year ... what i can't understand is why isn't he signed by another team yet? Also, how much $$$ does montreal have left? I think they offered him 4 mil for 2 ... i wonder if kovy's still pondering it ....

I think the offer is off the table now with all the other signings.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I think the offer is off the table now with all the other signings.

Nuts. Absolutely nuts.

I didn't mind loosing the others, but kovy hurts ....



:fight:

wprager wrote:It would have to be the right shoulder, because the left one is usually about 4 inches higher than Neil can reach.

Winchester is a big kid, let him do it then :^^^^:

Next up Smurfette is hired to take care of "The SMurfs on Ice"

"Habs Inside Out" columnist Dave Stubbs provides his perspective on the dramatic changes in Montreal.

GAINEY'S PLAN COMING TOGETHER
Dave Stubbs, The Montreal Gazette, July 10, 2009

Let's hope Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey has a few dollars left in the kitty. It's going to cost him a small fortune to buy nameplate letters for the uniforms of all his new players.

Gainey yesterday signed unrestricted free-agent defenceman Paul Mara, most recently of the New York Rangers, to a one-year deal estimated at $1.9 million U.S.

Then a few hours later he put the name of rugged San Jose Sharks winger Travis Moen on a three-year contract reported to be worth $4.5 million.

Both players said last evening they chose Montreal because they see the revamped Canadiens as an opportunity to challenge for the Stanley Cup.

The Mara signing satisfies Gainey's desire to add one more body to his blueline corps. It also seems likely to spell the end of the Montreal careers of veterans Francis Bouillon and Mathieu Dandenault.

The addition of UFA Moen, for two years a Kelowna Rockets major-junior teammate of Habs defenceman Josh Gorges, gives the team size and attitude up front.

Moen was the seventh player acquired by Gainey in the past 11 days. Before yesterday, the GM's postseason shopping had included three high-profile forwards ­ Scott Gomez, acquired in a trade with the Rangers, as well as UFAs Mike Cammalleri and Brian Gionta - and UFA defencemen Jaroslav Spacek and Hal Gill.
Gainey signed not a single of his own 10 UFAs, including captain Saku Koivu and fan favourite Alex Kovalev. Seven in and 10 out isn't changing the chemistry of the Canadiens as much as it is blowing up the laboratory.

"Paul Mara will bring size and experience to our group of defencemen," Gainey said in a release. "He can contribute to all facets of the game.

"Travis Moen is a character player," he added a few hours later of the 6-foot-2, 215-pounder. "He is versatile and he plays hard. His size and style will contribute to adding physicality to our team."

If fans were puzzled over the addition of three fleet but unintimidating forwards in Gomez, Cammalleri and Gionta, maybe they're starting to see a Gainey plan with the addition of 6-foot-7 Gill and 6-foot-4 Mara, twin towers on defence, and the crushing Moen up front.

Mara, a 212-pound 10-year NHL veteran, certainly brings size and experience to the Canadiens.

The 29-year-old native of Ridgewood, N.J., comes to his fifth NHL team, having been chosen seventh overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1997 entry draft.

He has since played for Phoenix, Boston and the Rangers, scoring 63 goals and adding 176 assists. He has 640 penalty minutes in 639 regular-season games.

Last season with the Rangers, Mara had five goals, 16 assists and 94 penalty minutes in 76 regular-season games, playing an average of 18:57 per match.
Moen, a 27-year-old native of Swift Current, Sask., finished last season with San Jose, having been traded there by Anaheim in March.

He had seven goals, nine assists and 91 penalty minutes in 2008-09, with a five-year NHL total of 29 goals, 27 assists and 487 penalty minutes through 362 games with Chicago, Anaheim and San Jose. Moen was drafted 155th overall by Calgary in 2000.

Montreal will be a homecoming of sorts for Mara, who has been a teammate of Gionta, Gomez and Gill.

"The chemistry issue both on and off the ice won't be a problem," he said last evening from his summer home in Cape Cod. "Guys they've brought in are character guys as well as quality players.

"All the guys, and I talked to Scott Gomez today, have a goal of winning the Stanley Cup. Anything short of that and we'll be disappointed."

Mara grew up in Bedford, Mass., as a loyal Bruins fan, and admitted yesterday's signing flooded his phone, email and text-messaging from that area.

"It's going to hurt their hearts," he joked of his correspondents. "But they're going to switch their allegiances to Montreal."

Playing in Canada is a dream realized for Moen, who helps out on his family's Saskatchewan farm in the summertime and even did a guest spot on the CTV comedy Corner Gas after scoring the Stanley Cup-winning goal for Anaheim in 2007.

"There's disappointment every year you don't win the Cup," he said from Calgary, his attendance at a Kenny Chesney concert bound to earn him points from country music-loving goalie Carey Price. "I'm coming to Montreal because I think there's a good chance."

Moen offers Canadiens fans this scouting report: "I'm a physical guy, finish my checks, stick up for teammates, am good defensively, do a lot of (penalty-killing) and try to chip in offensively when I can.

"There's a lot of history in Montreal and they look like they're going to have a great team again."

dstubbs@thegazette.canwest.com

wprager wrote:Mara is coming there to challenge for the Cup? And he only signed a 1-year deal?

Yeah man, big centennial year for the Habs....oh....wait....nevermind.