As i said in a post a few moments ago. It just baffles me how a GM can act like this. I don`t know about you guys, but i would personally go for players i`ve studied and looked at instead of unknowns. I mean that shit-head Esposito? Come on! If i were Mc Waddle i would`ve taken Ryder, Grabovski, 2nd round Draft pick and David Fischer over those pricks any day.
Well, Trade Day has come and gone. And it leaves me feeling.... Empty inside. Even more so than last year. I was expecting things to move, i was hoping for something huge. Then Bob Gainey has gone and done what?
Trade Huet for a 2nd round pick. 2009. Anaheim. I swear sometimes i wonder if he`s even trying.
Anyway, that`s really all there is to it, dissapointment. Too many times have we seen 29 other teams get better and the Habs stand pat.
07 Trade Deadline? NOTHING! (That Rivet thing barely counts as a trade)
07 Summer? Nope, we get Slowinski signed and that`s it.
08 Trade Deadline? NOTHING! We trade Huet for a 2nd round pick when we could have easily gotten atleast 2 of those.
What`s next for summer 08? Sign the Zamboni guy as our 2nd line center? Draft a new janitor? Jesus Christ guys, what the hell?
"The Atlanta Thrashers have traded sniper Marian Hossa and winger Pascal Dupuis to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for prospect Angelo Esposito, forwards Colby Armstrong and Erik Christensen and a first-round pick." from TSN
If that's what it took to get Hossa, I'm glad we didn't get him. That's a freaking insane trade.
Re: Flying Toaster
He did barely anything last year, and pretty much nothing during the summer and look how we've done so far. Buyers at trade deadline time usually don't fare well. Just look at Atlanta and Nashville last year.
Seriously, I wasn't disappointed last year, especially in hindsight if you consider how well Georges is playing.
This year, the fact that we shipped off HueT for a second rounder is just insulting. While I agree that a trade at any cost (especially one that would have shipped off Higgins) would have been a mistake, no trades at all is even worse, IMHO. A second rounder isn't going to make us better now, and that's what we need, seeing as we're in serious playoff contention.
But, hey, at least Halak may actually get to play a game and not simply get to count the splinters in his ass from riding the pine. I always thought that kid deserved more of a chance, and I agree with giving our two young goalies - the future of our franchise - as much playing time as possible. I'm just not happy with how that came about...
Armstrong, Christiensen, Espo AND a first? That's insane, even with Dupuis thrown in.
This works well for Montreal. They keep their organizational depth. Yes, it stinks that Huet got dealt for cheap to clear up cap room they won't use. I can live with this.
More importantly, if the Penguins decide to keep Hossa long-term, they're essentially eliminating them from serious contention. Which team in the East had as much great young talent as Montreal? Pittsburgh, maybe Washington. Now Pittsburgh is the new Tampa Bay. They'll have to squeeze out all their second-tier players to keep their big three happy.
Meanwhile Toronto is forced to trade off Belak and Kilger (by no means the worst players on the team) because all their worthy trade bait (besides Gill) has a NTC. Bahahahaha.
You know, I don't think the goaltending is going to be such a problem. Halak's been tearing up the AHL, and the last time he was up here, he went... 9-0 before being replaced by HueT, who was promptly shelled to get us kicked out of the playoff hunt. If TFS falters, I think he'll be a very capable 2nd stringer.
Maybe Gainey could have gotten more than a 2nd rounder, but as I've said; The Habs have done a lot more with a lot less before.
Along with the now infamous: "Impact Player" comment, Gainey also pointed out that he didn't want to mess too much with the chemistry in the dressing room. You guys have to admit, this is one of the best Habs squads you've seen in years, is it not?
It's clear that Bob has some sort of plan. You've been able to see it working up until now, despite the lack of 'action' at the exciting moments. We didn't get Hossa, and it would have been great to see him riding Koivu's wing... but at the expense of the future? What are we, Leafs fans?
There's of course the chance that Hossa would have put us over the top, and given us a Cup. On the other hand, he might have his regular playoff disappearing act, then just jumped ship for the highest bidder in the offseason, taking with him our draft picks, prospects and only 30-goal scorer (who, admittedly, is sucking harder than my Dyson Extreme this year)
Oh, and that assumes Pittsburgh CAN resign Hossa, and he doesn't skip out to some bottom-dweller that offers him an extra half-million a year. In which case they're still out a bunch of young players.
Poor James Cybulski has been forced to hang out at the Spice Girls concert as Toronto's man-in-the-arena. John Lu and Farhan Lalji both got to at least hang out in a nice quiet arena.
One other thing: Pittsburgh has Hal Gill now. That's worth a couple skate-around-the-pylon goals, at least. I'd worry about what that means for Toronto but I understand the Marlies defensemen who will be replacing him aren't much better.
Meanwhile Toronto is forced to trade off Belak and Kilger (by no means the worst players on the team) because all their worthy trade bait (besides Gill) has a NTC. Bahahahaha.
The got rid of 2 roster players that open up room for young players to step in, picked up 4 draft picks, and get to audition some young talent for the rest of the year.
Good first step as Fletcher said and the summer brings more opportunities to make moves.
It's tough to see Hossa not go to your team but it could have worked out poorly just as easily as it could have been a big blockbuster.
I don't know-- the team just got worse. This makes no sense to me.
I understand not selling off the future for a rental, that makes sense to me. But why give away the #1 goalie? Chad Kilger was worth a 3rd rounder, for fuck's sake! If you aren't going to get better short term, then why not run with what you've got? Why make the playoffs harder? Why get worse?
This trade doesn't even help them with cap room-- Huet wasn't going to be back anyway.
It's a dark night of the soul for my Trust In Bob.
The whole plan was to win the Cup next year, the Party Year. (90th Anniversary, was it?)
You could keep HueT and try to get deep into the playoffs this year, sure. But Price probably wouldn't have a look-in. And HueT would then bolt for greener pastures in the off-season, leaving the Habs without a playof-tested goalie for the Party Year. That would potentially be WORSE than not doing as well this year.
This way, Price will get his playoff minutes, and even if he doesn't win anything this year, he'll stand a much better chance to do so next year. The Party Year. The Year with the Hats.
Matt, I don't think you're wrong. The team's worse right now. But I think it will be better for this in the future.
Fezworth, you've hit on exactly the justification I came up with after I picked my jaw up off the floor. It sounds good, and it makes Bob look like the forward thinking genius we all hope he is. We just have to keep reminding ourselves that it's all about the Centennial party. The party Hats and all that.
But here's the thing: they're playing well this year, and they've got a shot. Who knows how Kovy will play next year? Who knows if they'll stay healthy? What if Buffalo bounces back, and Boston manages to beat the Habs a few times next year? I'd rather a Cup this year and a tank next year than no Cup this year and losing in the Finals next year.
If the idea is to get TFS (tm) battle-tested, fine. Play him as the #1 in the playoffs, and have Huet there just in case. I'm trying the buy the Party Hats Defence (lawyers, is this a real defence?), but I just can't right now.
(Note: my Dark Night of the Soul can be cured if TFS (tm) gets a shutout tonight and another against Jersey. I'm fickle like that.)
Fezworth - Your optimism is refreshing!! I agree the points you've made like your spin on this and I actually think that your take on the Party Year is bang on (it's not the 90th, BTW, but the 100th...)
Like I said, I don't mind ditching HueT - I like the fact that our two young goalies are finally going to get the experience that they need and, frankly, deserve. I just think we let him go for Sweet Fuck All and that's what really ticks me off.
@LG - Of course! I was so confused about why they were having so many celebrations for the 90th anniversary. It makes a lot more sense now, thank you. Duh.
Folks..If you recall, Bryzgalov went for nothing as well...it's a soft market for goalies right now..Frankly, I don't think Huet is a big game goalie. I'd rather take my chances with Price & Halak. It just feels bad because of all the media hype building up to today.
I suspect the reason the Huet deal was so bad was a) as mentioned, it's a soft market for goalies, and b) Bob was trying to clear some salary room for Hossa. Then Pittsburgh swept in at the last second (they weren't even being mentioned until about fifteen minutes before the deal) with a sweetheart package that neither Montreal or Ottawa were willing to match.
Rather than sell the farm on principle to get their man, Bob stood down. I don't think he makes the Huet deal if he knows about Pittsburgh.
27 comments:
well shit.
On the plus side, we'll be playing a Hossa-less Thrashers squad tonight, with a fulll compelment
oh well we got a second round draft pick for the future. Price will get playoff experience. Habs vs Hossa-less Atlanta tonight.
C'est la vie.
At least we have a BIG second round choice in '09.
Dib Gainey loose his cell phone ?
Christ.
Still... you have to wonder what Waddell wanted for Hossa. Would you have given up Ryder, Higgins & a first rounder in a strong draft next year?
I can see it if the price was too steep.
As i said in a post a few moments ago. It just baffles me how a GM can act like this. I don`t know about you guys, but i would personally go for players i`ve studied and looked at instead of unknowns. I mean that shit-head Esposito? Come on! If i were Mc Waddle i would`ve taken Ryder, Grabovski, 2nd round Draft pick and David Fischer over those pricks any day.
Well, Trade Day has come and gone. And it leaves me feeling.... Empty inside. Even more so than last year. I was expecting things to move, i was hoping for something huge. Then Bob Gainey has gone and done what?
Trade Huet for a 2nd round pick. 2009. Anaheim. I swear sometimes i wonder if he`s even trying.
Anyway, that`s really all there is to it, dissapointment. Too many times have we seen 29 other teams get better and the Habs stand pat.
07 Trade Deadline? NOTHING! (That Rivet thing barely counts as a trade)
07 Summer? Nope, we get Slowinski signed and that`s it.
08 Trade Deadline? NOTHING! We trade Huet for a 2nd round pick when we could have easily gotten atleast 2 of those.
What`s next for summer 08? Sign the Zamboni guy as our 2nd line center? Draft a new janitor? Jesus Christ guys, what the hell?
"The Atlanta Thrashers have traded sniper Marian Hossa and winger Pascal Dupuis to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for prospect Angelo Esposito, forwards Colby Armstrong and Erik Christensen and a first-round pick." from TSN
RDS has a report about Bob Gainey buying Zimbabwean saving bonds with the available cap space. Freekin brilliant.
There is no justification for this trade. Plain and simple...........
It's almost as if Gainey was consulting with Houle during the day.
If that's what it took to get Hossa, I'm glad we didn't get him. That's a freaking insane trade.
Re: Flying Toaster
He did barely anything last year, and pretty much nothing during the summer and look how we've done so far. Buyers at trade deadline time usually don't fare well. Just look at Atlanta and Nashville last year.
Well put montréaliste1...
One word sums this up: tabarnak.
Seriously, I wasn't disappointed last year, especially in hindsight if you consider how well Georges is playing.
This year, the fact that we shipped off HueT for a second rounder is just insulting. While I agree that a trade at any cost (especially one that would have shipped off Higgins) would have been a mistake, no trades at all is even worse, IMHO. A second rounder isn't going to make us better now, and that's what we need, seeing as we're in serious playoff contention.
But, hey, at least Halak may actually get to play a game and not simply get to count the splinters in his ass from riding the pine. I always thought that kid deserved more of a chance, and I agree with giving our two young goalies - the future of our franchise - as much playing time as possible. I'm just not happy with how that came about...
a line with Hossa, Malkin and Sidney (go back to Australia) Crosby.
We defenitevly don't want to meet them in roud one...
Armstrong, Christiensen, Espo AND a first? That's insane, even with Dupuis thrown in.
This works well for Montreal. They keep their organizational depth. Yes, it stinks that Huet got dealt for cheap to clear up cap room they won't use. I can live with this.
More importantly, if the Penguins decide to keep Hossa long-term, they're essentially eliminating them from serious contention. Which team in the East had as much great young talent as Montreal? Pittsburgh, maybe Washington. Now Pittsburgh is the new Tampa Bay. They'll have to squeeze out all their second-tier players to keep their big three happy.
Meanwhile Toronto is forced to trade off Belak and Kilger (by no means the worst players on the team) because all their worthy trade bait (besides Gill) has a NTC. Bahahahaha.
You know, I don't think the goaltending is going to be such a problem. Halak's been tearing up the AHL, and the last time he was up here, he went... 9-0 before being replaced by HueT, who was promptly shelled to get us kicked out of the playoff hunt. If TFS falters, I think he'll be a very capable 2nd stringer.
Maybe Gainey could have gotten more than a 2nd rounder, but as I've said; The Habs have done a lot more with a lot less before.
Along with the now infamous: "Impact Player" comment, Gainey also pointed out that he didn't want to mess too much with the chemistry in the dressing room. You guys have to admit, this is one of the best Habs squads you've seen in years, is it not?
It's clear that Bob has some sort of plan. You've been able to see it working up until now, despite the lack of 'action' at the exciting moments. We didn't get Hossa, and it would have been great to see him riding Koivu's wing... but at the expense of the future? What are we, Leafs fans?
There's of course the chance that Hossa would have put us over the top, and given us a Cup. On the other hand, he might have his regular playoff disappearing act, then just jumped ship for the highest bidder in the offseason, taking with him our draft picks, prospects and only 30-goal scorer (who, admittedly, is sucking harder than my Dyson Extreme this year)
Oh, and that assumes Pittsburgh CAN resign Hossa, and he doesn't skip out to some bottom-dweller that offers him an extra half-million a year. In which case they're still out a bunch of young players.
Poor James Cybulski has been forced to hang out at the Spice Girls concert as Toronto's man-in-the-arena. John Lu and Farhan Lalji both got to at least hang out in a nice quiet arena.
I'm with you, msevigny.
Let's just all hope that this wakes Ryder up.
One other thing: Pittsburgh has Hal Gill now. That's worth a couple skate-around-the-pylon goals, at least. I'd worry about what that means for Toronto but I understand the Marlies defensemen who will be replacing him aren't much better.
Meanwhile Toronto is forced to trade off Belak and Kilger (by no means the worst players on the team) because all their worthy trade bait (besides Gill) has a NTC. Bahahahaha.
The got rid of 2 roster players that open up room for young players to step in, picked up 4 draft picks, and get to audition some young talent for the rest of the year.
Good first step as Fletcher said and the summer brings more opportunities to make moves.
It's tough to see Hossa not go to your team but it could have worked out poorly just as easily as it could have been a big blockbuster.
I don't know-- the team just got worse. This makes no sense to me.
I understand not selling off the future for a rental, that makes sense to me. But why give away the #1 goalie? Chad Kilger was worth a 3rd rounder, for fuck's sake! If you aren't going to get better short term, then why not run with what you've got? Why make the playoffs harder? Why get worse?
This trade doesn't even help them with cap room-- Huet wasn't going to be back anyway.
It's a dark night of the soul for my Trust In Bob.
The whole plan was to win the Cup next year, the Party Year. (90th Anniversary, was it?)
You could keep HueT and try to get deep into the playoffs this year, sure. But Price probably wouldn't have a look-in. And HueT would then bolt for greener pastures in the off-season, leaving the Habs without a playof-tested goalie for the Party Year. That would potentially be WORSE than not doing as well this year.
This way, Price will get his playoff minutes, and even if he doesn't win anything this year, he'll stand a much better chance to do so next year. The Party Year. The Year with the Hats.
Matt, I don't think you're wrong. The team's worse right now. But I think it will be better for this in the future.
Fezworth, you've hit on exactly the justification I came up with after I picked my jaw up off the floor. It sounds good, and it makes Bob look like the forward thinking genius we all hope he is. We just have to keep reminding ourselves that it's all about the Centennial party. The party Hats and all that.
But here's the thing: they're playing well this year, and they've got a shot. Who knows how Kovy will play next year? Who knows if they'll stay healthy? What if Buffalo bounces back, and Boston manages to beat the Habs a few times next year? I'd rather a Cup this year and a tank next year than no Cup this year and losing in the Finals next year.
If the idea is to get TFS (tm) battle-tested, fine. Play him as the #1 in the playoffs, and have Huet there just in case. I'm trying the buy the Party Hats Defence (lawyers, is this a real defence?), but I just can't right now.
(Note: my Dark Night of the Soul can be cured if TFS (tm) gets a shutout tonight and another against Jersey. I'm fickle like that.)
Fezworth - Your optimism is refreshing!! I agree the points you've made like your spin on this and I actually think that your take on the Party Year is bang on (it's not the 90th, BTW, but the 100th...)
Like I said, I don't mind ditching HueT - I like the fact that our two young goalies are finally going to get the experience that they need and, frankly, deserve. I just think we let him go for Sweet Fuck All and that's what really ticks me off.
@LG - Of course! I was so confused about why they were having so many celebrations for the 90th anniversary. It makes a lot more sense now, thank you. Duh.
Folks..If you recall, Bryzgalov went for nothing as well...it's a soft market for goalies right now..Frankly, I don't think Huet is a big game goalie. I'd rather take my chances with Price & Halak. It just feels bad because of all the media hype building up to today.
@Matt - I see your point. All I can say is that it's a gamble either way. I just hope that Bob has chosen wisely.
I say: Bring on the Carey Price era. Let's rip these Hossa-less Thrashers a new one.
Can we get a game thread please?
I suspect the reason the Huet deal was so bad was a) as mentioned, it's a soft market for goalies, and b) Bob was trying to clear some salary room for Hossa. Then Pittsburgh swept in at the last second (they weren't even being mentioned until about fifteen minutes before the deal) with a sweetheart package that neither Montreal or Ottawa were willing to match.
Rather than sell the farm on principle to get their man, Bob stood down. I don't think he makes the Huet deal if he knows about Pittsburgh.
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