Wednesday, April 09, 2008



Depth. No team can survive a 4-round, game every other night slugfest like the NHL playoffs without it. Neither can a swin team - what would happen if one of the lovely ladies in the front row broke a heel and twisted her ankle? That's right, the blond in the second row is right there to take her place, and I would still want to sleep with the whole squad. That's depth.

The young players who join the team's playoff "taxi squad" gain some valuable experience just in being around a playoff team. So what prospects can Habs fans look forward to seeing the press box every night for the next two months (we hope/pray/offer sacrifices for)?

Kyle Chipchura - My Boy Chips is out with an injury right now, but he remains a steady, mature player. Although he played well early in this NHL season, Mad Max effectively usurped his place in the lineup. A steady season in Hamilton spent working on faceoffs should guarantee that Chips will get the first call if the team runs into more injury problems.

Corey Locke - is only on this list because I'm throwing HF29 a bone - Locke reminds me too much of that little fuckity-fuck, Mickey Ribs. However, he's probably the only guy on this list who has any potential to score a goal if needed. Let's hope/pray/make sacrifices to the hockey gods that he's NOT needed.

Matt D'Agostini - he's lost some luster compared to last season, but that may also be because the Bulldogs sucked donkey balls this year. Had Chips not been hurt, he probably would not have had a taste of NHL action, but he didn't look completely out of place; then again, my 95 year old Italian grandmother wouldn't look too out of place against the Leafs. He could fill a Greek Lightening-type role, but that's about it.

Gregory Stewart - adds a physical element to be sure, but he's not one-dimensional goon: see the two breakaways he had in the first period against T.O. Although if he can't score against Raycroft, hopefully he won't be seeing the ice this spring.

J.T. Wyman - a recent college graduate who played out the end of the season with Hamilton, he actually played both forward and defence last year. Before anyone starts making Swiss Mister comparisons, he didn't register a point in 4 games with the Bulldogs. He did score 30 points in 29 games with Dartmouth, where he wore an "A".

Mathieu Carle - although hyped as an offensive defencemen with improved defensive skills, I get a weird Breezer vibe from this guy. Maybe it's just because he's a French-Canadien offensive defencemen, and I'm a racist bastard with a deep, irrational hatred for Brisebois.

Pavel Valentenko - oh how I would love to see this guy play in a series against the Phlyers, if that were to happen. I can picture his hip going through Daniel Briere's visor, and I'm think I'm getting aroused. Is that wrong?

Yann Danis - oh God help us. Jaro better hope that "facking Cari not gona shit in coach pants", as it was so eloquently put in the season review comments, cause if we see Danis in a uniform we're fucked. Fucked.

4 comments:

Young HF29 said...

So Corey Locke is Mickey Ribs? Now I'm conflicted.

I could stare at that pic all day.

Anonymous said...

Dagostini played Buffalo, not the Leafs.

Anonymous said...

I love swimming,
I could crawl all the way to Texas.

HFF33 aka Panger said...

Thanks anonymous. Don't care, they both missed the playoffs.