What happened?

Well the decade is closing on the resetting er rebuilding habs. The habs did not go to a Stanley cup final during the last decade, but did make it technically to two conference finals. Technically because one was in the 2009-2010 year. We can say that the Habs Gms left us frustrated, confused, or exhilarated at times but there were very few dull moments. So here is a year-by-year recap of the decade. 2009-2010 I mention this year because the habs made it to a conference final even though the season spanned two decades. This was the first season of what I refer to as the Gainey experiment. Before the season started, Bob Gainey unloaded Saku Koivu, who he once referred to as a champion in waiting, and Alexei Kovalev who had actually won a cup with the Rangers and had quantums of talent. Koivu had been the hab’s captain for almost as long as Jean Beliveau. He had a courageous bout beating cancer. However, his tenure led to no cups and no playoff success. The reality wa...

It is rare to follow a trade long-term. However, the Craig Rivet trade has been fascinating to follow and has multiplied fruitfully for the habs franchise. Craig Rivet was drafted in the third round by the Habs in 1992 by GM Serge Savard. He had been a high scoring defenceman in junior with the Kingston Frontenacs. He had an above average career with the habs becoming a 3rd or 4th defenceman on the team. He also became an alternate captain and part of the Saku Koivu clique with the habs. He had a memorable long fight with Brian Marchment of the leafs which ended in a draw. When Savard’s ex-teammate Bob Gainey became GM he decided to trade Rivet to San Jose in 2007. Rivet had had a lengthy career with the habs and the return was interesting even for a 33 year old. The habs received for Rivet an unknown defenceman at the time, Josh Gorges, and a first round pick number 22 overall in 2007. The habs chose Max Pacioretty with this pick. Josh Gorges became a steady de...

It seems to me that virtually everyone wanted Max Pacioretty traded at the end of last season. This off-season there seems to be a rehabilitation of Max’s image and now it appears very few people want him traded. What has happened to change popular opinion especially since no games have been played? This change of direction could be attributed to several things. First, the trading of Alex Galchenyuk means that the only pure natural sniper left on the team is Pacioretty. Second, the long term injury of Shea Weber means there is a lack of veteran leadership on the team other than Price and Pacioretty. Third, Pacioretty changed agent and Allan Walsh knows the PR game inside-out. The fact that Walsh is the agent  for Jonathan Drouin means that the trading of Pacioretty could result in more team dissension. Fourth, the media maybe helped by Walsh has begun to sing the praises of Max. During the last season, Pacioretty’s anemic production, his lack of chemistry with Drouin, and his per...

What in hell have we witnessed in the first half of the season. Talk about plans going awry. The habs had a disasterous pre-season and they followed that up with a shocking start to the season. Now as we head to the halfway point the season is probably over in terms of making the playoffs. What went wrong? Everything. The hardest part of the habs season has been watching their A list players falter like Price, Weber, Pacioretty, and Drouin. So why did things go sour? We can start with the coaching staff. Sorry I expected more from Claude Julien. Both defensively and offensively the habs have looked disorganized and confused. Julien still has not been able to stabilize the defence pairings or the line combinations. Some of the blame no doubt belongs to Bergy and his off-season signings. There have been way too many defensive lapses and way too many impotent powerplays. Kirk Muller was brought in to help a sputtering powerplay. There has been no visible improvement since Muller’s arriv...

Well it's all over now. The Habs have done the unthinkable to many and the inevitable to others. PK Subban has been traded for Shea Weber. I think we have to understand this trade from what makes sports tick and that is money. It is also a story of greed and jealousy. Habs management most notably Marc Bergevin and their head coach Michel Therrien have never been comfortable with PK Subban. There has always been an incompatibility between them and PK's flamboyance and self promotion. Michel Therrien is a lunch pail coach, he prefers grit to flash, high work rate to moments of genius, conservatism to improvisation. Even there this was not the main problem with PK. The real issue was money. It started when Bergevin made the terrible decision to sign PK to a bridge contract. Anybody who had half a brain in evaluating talent should have realized that this was the time to sign him long term. It would not have cost them 9 million, even 7 million. It would have maybe cost them ...

We all need something to get us through these winter blues. This winter has been brutal as far as I am concerned cold every damn day since the beginning of the year. Hockey helps get us through this frigid torture. Even better is the hockey trade deadline. An artificially created deadline date set up by the NHL it has become its own social media carnival. Everybody has the inside knowledge about what's about to happen. I assume their sister is a secretary to an NHL general manager and she eavesdrops on every conversation, or your brother-in-law is a hockey agent. Whatever most hockey rumours never come through.  So my blog here is not to initiate rumours but to outline what the Habs need to get them to the promised land. What we have here with the Habs is a first place team that could have been way ahead if they put any effort defeating cellar dwellers.  The Habs have the most confident goalie in the NHL in Carey Price. The same Carey Price that lost his nerve a fe...

What is it with people? Why can't they accept others who have different opinions? Twitter has been a revelation to me in how people react when they disagree with your opinion. Being a habs fan yes a fan unlike what some people would prefer categorizing me as, I cannot handle the reaction when I decide to criticize someone. I have been a passionate habs fan since I was a kid when the habs would win everything virtually every year. I have grown old with the habs and I have remained a fan and not abandoned ship during the lean years. Anybody remember Eric Landry? I even remember when the forum had many empty seats. There is nothing wrong in criticizing people, especially those that have become wealthy because of their celebrity or popularity. Politicians are criticized incessantly since they are in the public eye. A sizable portion of the American right loathe Obama, Clinton, and even JFK.  A majority of liberals loathe Reagan, Bush, and Nixon. In Canada, liberals detest Stephen Harpe...

When I was a kid I truly believed if I was sick the habs would lose. I am not saying that it was true but.... As well, if my mom entered the room as the habs were playing and she would comment on the game inevitably the opposition would score on the habs. She was incredulous you actually think i made the opposition score as I would fume watching the opposing players celebrating.  Nah I don't believe in that anymore (fingers crossed). Recently after the Parros incident there has been much talk about the Bell Center curse. The list is long about near death incidents during the habs stint at the Bell Center Saku, Mcleary, Zednik, Pacioretty, Eller, Geoffrion, and now Parros. Saku, of course, was not clobbered by a hit but an illness, but he did almost lose an eye in another incident. What about Markov and all those knee issues? So is the Bell Center populated by opposition ghosts keeping away the Rocket, Plante, and Harvey? Is Eddie Shore swinging his stick at Rocket's ghost? Is ...