Alexei Yashin has taken his toys and gone home. I wonder how much the Habs had offered him, or if they offered him anything. Though I would love to play with a team called Locomotiv. Must have a great logo.
Showing posts with label Yashin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yashin. Show all posts
Friday, July 20, 2007
Dos Vidanya Alexei
Alexei Yashin has taken his toys and gone home. I wonder how much the Habs had offered him, or if they offered him anything. Though I would love to play with a team called Locomotiv. Must have a great logo.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Looking for the Next Gros Bill
The Habs biggest need come July 1 -and really for most of my lifetime, if not since Jean Beliveau retired IN 1971(!) - is a big, physical, talented first line center. Ideally, Koivu is a #2 centerman. Ideally, as in on a Stanley Cup contender.
So who’s out there for free this summer? Is there someone who a) has size and plays like it; b) is affordable and is willing sign in Montreal; and c) can play with Kovalev. (C) might be the biggest consideration, otherwise we’re wasting about $4.5 mill again this year. And if he has a decent set up man, AK27 can be a gunner again. So in theory one signing = 2 players. Unlike the Sammy signing which = (-23 combined).
Today FHF takes a look at potential UFA’s out of the Eastern Conference.
C Daniel Briere
And somewhere Yvon Pednault just had an orgasm. But makes sense to start at the top: obviously the “great” French Canadian talent most fans are clamouring for. But I don't think it's a good hockey fit. Didn't we have an albeit much crappier French Canadien Koivu clone recently? We need size and toughness. Sure he’s tough, but not physical. Plus we're talking huge cash, making it risky cap-wise . And I think if Briere is as smart in his contract choices as he is on the ice, he will avoid Montreal like Jacques Parizeau does a bath.
So who’s out there for free this summer? Is there someone who a) has size and plays like it; b) is affordable and is willing sign in Montreal; and c) can play with Kovalev. (C) might be the biggest consideration, otherwise we’re wasting about $4.5 mill again this year. And if he has a decent set up man, AK27 can be a gunner again. So in theory one signing = 2 players. Unlike the Sammy signing which = (-23 combined).
Today FHF takes a look at potential UFA’s out of the Eastern Conference.
C Daniel Briere
And somewhere Yvon Pednault just had an orgasm. But makes sense to start at the top: obviously the “great” French Canadian talent most fans are clamouring for. But I don't think it's a good hockey fit. Didn't we have an albeit much crappier French Canadien Koivu clone recently? We need size and toughness. Sure he’s tough, but not physical. Plus we're talking huge cash, making it risky cap-wise . And I think if Briere is as smart in his contract choices as he is on the ice, he will avoid Montreal like Jacques Parizeau does a bath.
Scott Gomez
Soon to be former NJD = big talent, little body, big bucks. He’ll be out of our price range – and for that money, we need a player who’d be doing the throwing in a midget-tossing contest. .
Chris Drury
Hee-YUGE heart and a proven winner. Again, unlikely at best. Someone else is going to offer him max-cap type money, and it won't be Double G (George Gillette). Unless he can play soccer, too.
Alexei Yashin
I know I'm supposed to say emphatically no. I'm sure he wants to play in Montreal. And I’m sure he's really, really sorry and promises to work hard this time. And I’m sure he means it this time, not like last time. And the time before that. And the time before that.
He's a certain type of player: a skilled, puck-hogging, unmotivated, often self centred, usually heartless, essentially mercenary player - and don't we have one just like that model? Then again, maybe that means he’ll click with AK27. But isn’t that what was said about Miro Satan (he of the all time best NHL name), and that lasted half a season. Of course Satan in no Kovalev (chuckle).
But there's a chance, right? I mean, what if he really is a good guy off the ice? What if the contract weighed him down? He did put up points early in the season before he got hurt, so he's still got some left in the tank. And he says he'll play in Montreal, which unfortunately is now a consideration - just like the Expos had to deal with. (Slowly shakes his head at the thought of comparing the Expos and Canadiens.) It comes down to two things: options and money – obviously, it’s Kash-in' Yashin' we’re taking about! If the Habs can't land any kind of big name UFA, then Yashin looks more attractive, and if the price is right (around $2M or less)...
C Viktor Kozlov
I really liked this guy last summer, but no one seemed to listen to me. He's not a physical presence, but he's big, and he's got the skill to have played between AK27 and Sammy (yeah yeah, hindsight!). And then he went out and put up 25 goals and 51 points for the Isles. Remind me again who beat us out for the last playoff spot. Ohhh, The Islanders.
Wait. Seriously? They were in the playoffs?
The lesson, as always: why don't they ever listen to me when I'm right?
Mikael Nylander
Spent the last couple of seasons as Jaromir Jagr’s set up man, which has lead some to believe he’s overrated. And the stats support this: 10 more assists the last two years with Jags on his wing that his previous career high. Could he possibly recreate such productivity with Kovalev on his wing? Well, to paraphrase a certain 1988 Democratic VP candidate, “Sir, I know Jaromir Jagr, I’ve played with Jaromir Jagr. Mr. Kovalev, you are no Jaromir Jagr.” Will NY offer more cash to keep him feeding Jagr? I would bet yes. But they may go after Gomez or Briere, in which case Nyls may be available. Supposedly Calgary and Philly have interest if he doesn’t re-up. Still, doesn’t seem like a great fit. He’s not big or physical and he’ll be 35 in October. And he was a Whalers draft pick. And the Whalers still suck (even if they won a Cup).
Dainius Zubrus
Big, talented. 2nd Liner at best, though. Interesting, but again unlikely if only because this regime has already deemed him expendable, and I somehow doubt that Gainey’s mindset will have changed. Just like his expressions.
Mike Comrie
Talented but small, questionable heart - Kashin' Yashin syndrome as well.
Yanic Perreault
HF29 : "Next!"
Keith Tkachuk
Shift him to centre you say? He's a talented, big body presence (ohh, my first Maguire-ism) with a mean streak, you say? Big mouth and ego to go with it? Pass. Plus he’s established American hockey star and American teams will pay a premium to get him and his mouth. Bottom line: Not in Montreal, thank you very much. He looks like he enjoys the nightlife. And as cool as it would be to run into him at Club Downtown, his head would explode five separate times between Peel and Stanley alone.
Jozef Stumpel
An interesting option, although not much talk about him. Upside: 6’3”, 225 Lbs., 23 goalscorer last year and at least 50 points in the last four years he’s played 70 games. Downside: He’ll be 35 in training camp, and he’s not exactly known as a physical player. Still, I think it could work if there price were right. He might even fit with AK27.
NEXT UP: Western Conference UFA’s
Mikael Nylander
Spent the last couple of seasons as Jaromir Jagr’s set up man, which has lead some to believe he’s overrated. And the stats support this: 10 more assists the last two years with Jags on his wing that his previous career high. Could he possibly recreate such productivity with Kovalev on his wing? Well, to paraphrase a certain 1988 Democratic VP candidate, “Sir, I know Jaromir Jagr, I’ve played with Jaromir Jagr. Mr. Kovalev, you are no Jaromir Jagr.” Will NY offer more cash to keep him feeding Jagr? I would bet yes. But they may go after Gomez or Briere, in which case Nyls may be available. Supposedly Calgary and Philly have interest if he doesn’t re-up. Still, doesn’t seem like a great fit. He’s not big or physical and he’ll be 35 in October. And he was a Whalers draft pick. And the Whalers still suck (even if they won a Cup).
Dainius Zubrus
Big, talented. 2nd Liner at best, though. Interesting, but again unlikely if only because this regime has already deemed him expendable, and I somehow doubt that Gainey’s mindset will have changed. Just like his expressions.
Mike Comrie
Talented but small, questionable heart - Kashin' Yashin syndrome as well.
Yanic Perreault
HF29 : "Next!"
Keith Tkachuk
Shift him to centre you say? He's a talented, big body presence (ohh, my first Maguire-ism) with a mean streak, you say? Big mouth and ego to go with it? Pass. Plus he’s established American hockey star and American teams will pay a premium to get him and his mouth. Bottom line: Not in Montreal, thank you very much. He looks like he enjoys the nightlife. And as cool as it would be to run into him at Club Downtown, his head would explode five separate times between Peel and Stanley alone.
Jozef Stumpel
An interesting option, although not much talk about him. Upside: 6’3”, 225 Lbs., 23 goalscorer last year and at least 50 points in the last four years he’s played 70 games. Downside: He’ll be 35 in training camp, and he’s not exactly known as a physical player. Still, I think it could work if there price were right. He might even fit with AK27.
NEXT UP: Western Conference UFA’s
Thursday, June 21, 2007
The Habs, Soccer...and Strippers, but Who's on First?
In that order of affection, yes.
I have never watched a Habs game at a strip club. That would be a bit too much for the senses. I'll take a good game on TV over a lap dance from a girl named "Cristelle" who is trying to pay for her law degree. Sure, our exorbitant $1500 tuition fees require students to go to such lenghts. This is the city where tuition hikes occur at a slower pace than a Barry Richter end to end rush.
The FHF are slowly gearing up for Euro 2008, with qualifying games already scattered throughout the spring and summer. If Greece pulls off another upset, you read it here first, I'm going to throw myself off someplace high.
What direction are the Habs going in? It's too early to speculate. The Yashin rumors are nothing but and unless he signs, I wouldn't read much into it. I don't know that he is the igniting flame that must be lit under Kovalev's tremendously lazy culo but I don't see it as the passionate mix that brings the chalice of love home. We saw what Anaheim did. It takes grit and selflessness; Kovy and "Museum Donor Boy" don't come to mind all that quickly. Now if MDB wants to sign here for coffee and change, that's another story. I'll even buy the coffee, keep the change.
The Draft is upon us, then comes July 1, talk to me a week later, when most of the UFA's will have been snatched up. If the Habs are in the mix, if they are part of the conversation then there is hope. One thing is absolutely certain, this team needs to fill the hole in the middle on that second line. Some say that gap has been filled for the last 10 years because that's all Saku Koivu has been good for. I disagree. But if that is true, and most believe it to be so, then who's on first? Mike "For the love of God someone feed this poor child" Ribeiro was not the answer. Plekanec is maturing into a great two-way forward but he needs to become the face of the 3rd line, the back bone of any team with depth and the ability to come up with that important goal. Higgins converted to center? He is going to be a beauty, but the answer is develop him into the natural player he is at his natural position, on the wing. I keep on replaying in my mind that gorgeous goal he scored in the last game against the Leafs and wonder what is to come.
This team needs a center, who can plug and play on lines 1 and 2 and who can provide the punch that will desperately be needed once the canon's launched by Sheldon St-Laurent will have been silenced. (i'm already in prep-grieving mode). Maybe MDB is the answer. Since he never seemed to care about the game, and neither did Kovy, maybe 2 negatives turn into a posi....ahh forget it....
I have never watched a Habs game at a strip club. That would be a bit too much for the senses. I'll take a good game on TV over a lap dance from a girl named "Cristelle" who is trying to pay for her law degree. Sure, our exorbitant $1500 tuition fees require students to go to such lenghts. This is the city where tuition hikes occur at a slower pace than a Barry Richter end to end rush.
The FHF are slowly gearing up for Euro 2008, with qualifying games already scattered throughout the spring and summer. If Greece pulls off another upset, you read it here first, I'm going to throw myself off someplace high.
What direction are the Habs going in? It's too early to speculate. The Yashin rumors are nothing but and unless he signs, I wouldn't read much into it. I don't know that he is the igniting flame that must be lit under Kovalev's tremendously lazy culo but I don't see it as the passionate mix that brings the chalice of love home. We saw what Anaheim did. It takes grit and selflessness; Kovy and "Museum Donor Boy" don't come to mind all that quickly. Now if MDB wants to sign here for coffee and change, that's another story. I'll even buy the coffee, keep the change.
The Draft is upon us, then comes July 1, talk to me a week later, when most of the UFA's will have been snatched up. If the Habs are in the mix, if they are part of the conversation then there is hope. One thing is absolutely certain, this team needs to fill the hole in the middle on that second line. Some say that gap has been filled for the last 10 years because that's all Saku Koivu has been good for. I disagree. But if that is true, and most believe it to be so, then who's on first? Mike "For the love of God someone feed this poor child" Ribeiro was not the answer. Plekanec is maturing into a great two-way forward but he needs to become the face of the 3rd line, the back bone of any team with depth and the ability to come up with that important goal. Higgins converted to center? He is going to be a beauty, but the answer is develop him into the natural player he is at his natural position, on the wing. I keep on replaying in my mind that gorgeous goal he scored in the last game against the Leafs and wonder what is to come.
This team needs a center, who can plug and play on lines 1 and 2 and who can provide the punch that will desperately be needed once the canon's launched by Sheldon St-Laurent will have been silenced. (i'm already in prep-grieving mode). Maybe MDB is the answer. Since he never seemed to care about the game, and neither did Kovy, maybe 2 negatives turn into a posi....ahh forget it....
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