Cowhide and Rubber

This post is in response to Eric Engels’ post entitled “No Brainer: Habs Should Offer Guerin a Contract“.

In principle, I agree with almost everything written. Guerin has some gas left in the tank, is a right-handed shot for the Canadiens powerplay and is a respected leader. He brings grit and toughness that the Habs are sorely lacking. I wouldn’t mind seeing Guerin in a Habs jersey for a season. But can it work?

It’s all well and good to fantasize about it, but let’s quickly look at the numbers. The Canadiens have 4.13 million left in cap space, and still need to sign Carey Price. Let’s assume that the current rumour is true and that Price is about to sign for 2.75 million dollars. That leaves the Canadiens 1.38 million to sign Guerin, and preserve some buffer space for injuries, call ups and a potential trade deadline pick up. Let’s make the further assumption that Guerin would accept 1 million to sign with the Canadiens. One of the popular refrains from fans is to say “get the guy and worry about the cap later”. That’s awfully easy to say when you’re not the one with millions of fans breathing down your neck. The other justification fans trot out there is “the GM just needs to be creative”. Creative huh? In the same way New Jersey is trying to be creative with the Kovalchuk situation? Or creative in the same way Darryl Sutter thinks what’s old is new again? Creative is a very vague, very subjective thing…but I digress.

Signing Guerin for a million would leave the Canadiens tighter than Kiera Knightley in a corset (you’re welcome for the visual), with a paltry $380,000 left. Yikes.

For all the good things that Guerin brings to the rink, do the Canadiens need another guy to enter the “leadership equation”?

Jacques Martin is going to nominate a captain soon. I’m pretty sure that captain, whoever it turns out to be would admit that he (behind closed doors, of course) would like some elbow room to establish himself as captain. That gets a little harder to do with Guerin around. This isn’t a case where Guerin mentors Sidney Crosby while he navigates the waters of captaincy. Guerin is a leader by nature, and a vocal one. You don’t bring a guy with his character in to the room and ask him to stay quiet and let the current core lead. His presence in the room would only stifle and confuse what’s already been built upon. I’m not saying Guerin is a bad seed. It’s more a case of pouring a fine scotch in to a glass of expensive red wine and expecting the combination to taste good.

The other exercise is to find a place for Guerin to play. He’s not going to play on the top 2 lines. At least not right away. The top 6 is set, and the only thing that would change that is if either Andrei Kostitsyn or Benoit Pouliot drop the ball, or if somebody gets hurt. Admittedly, that would probably happen at some point. Would Guerin fit in the bottom 6? I think we can agree that having him as a 4th liner is a waste of everyone’s time, especially Guerin’s. What good is he with the likes of Boyd, Pyatt, Darche or Lapierre? Perhaps there’s a fit with Eller and Moen as a grinding line with some offensive punch. That’s a big if.

If Carey Price signs for less than $2.25 million, then I’d say go ahead and offer Guerin a million bucks. At least then you’d have space to make an emergency call up from Hamilton.

Personally I wouldn’t sacrifice all of my remaining cap space for a guy whose presence would come with positives and negatives. In that case that Price gets closer to 3 million, I’d prefer to see if Max Pacioretty can crack the roster again.

I like Bill Guerin, but in my opinion, the stars aren’t aligning properly for him to don the bleu-blanc-rouge. I wouldn’t cry if it did happen, and in the end if it did happen I’d probably be happy with the move, but I think with so little cap room left, and not much roster space available, it may not be the best, or even a necessary move at this time.

In my opinion, he’d be a dream trade deadline acquisition, if whatever team he’s with falls out of the post season picture. By then his cap hit will be negligible and his intangibles as a locker room presence become less of a potential hazard to the established leadership, as it will already have had time to establish itself.

What do you think? Should the Habs try and get Guerin on the cheap?

In Montreal where the Canadiens reign supreme, I’m sure we can all understand that it’s nearly impossible to satisfy an insatiable appetite for all things bleu-blanc-rouge, especially in a year like this where the Habs have been very silent. Anything rates as big news these days, as we recently witnessed with the Cedrick Desjarding trade (a.k.a. – what news?) With deadlines and word counts to meet, people who get paid to write and talk about the Habs need to find something to say, and find an angle to come from. That’s perfectly normal; we all have criteria we must meet. One of the things I’m not okay with, and what seems to be happening more and more in 2010 is the amount of inane, predictable questions being posed to players, coaches and management. These silly questions are contributing to a ton of uninteresting, irrelevant content. It should come as no surprise then, that part of the reason why mainstream media is on the decline, while blogs, twitter and facebook are skyrocketing is that these latter channels are producing more interesting content that the creators can share with others.

There’s been a lot written recently about how the mainstream media hasn’t wrapped their heads around social media, and twitter in particular. Two articles that stand out are by @All_Habs (found here), and by @theactivestick (found here). If you haven’t read them already, I highly recommend both articles. The general crux is that mainstream media is still struggling to adapt to a new landscape in which everyone has an equal voice, and where the media is increasingly incapable (or unwilling?) of bringing much added value to a conversation. Also of note is how mainstream media continues their disrespect bloggers. This is also predictable. Bloggers and other content producers in social media are now threatening their livelihoods, where once upon a time in the old days (like 3 years ago), they ruled the roost. The rules have permanently and forever changed, and traditional media stubbornly tries its best to resist or bend social media’s rules to their own benefit, not the community’s. The growing blogosphere, twitterverse and other social media channels are giving fans ways in which to connect with one another moreso than ever before, and it’s only in its infancy. Spending time in each of these channels, I can safely say that I often find myself getting FAR more value from the quality bloggers out there than from media who are becoming increasingly dull, predictable, or, on the flip side, bombastic, flippant and arrogant. I’m so excited for where the future of blogging and social media will take fans and media alike. Will everyone play nice?

I’m not saying that all members of the media are evil (nor do the two articles highlighted above). Far from it. As mentioned in the All Habs and The Active Stick articles, there are many members of the media who DO get it, and more and more are getting on board all the time. The ones that understand social media will thrive. The ones that don’t will lose their relevance (Hello, @damospin). The ones that get it will gather a loyal following. The ones that don’t will be left behind. The ones that interact with fans, and play by the rules of the community they’re in, will win. The ones that surround themselves with their old boys club and pretend that it’s still the one-way broadcast world they’re used to, will lose. The ones that bring value will be thanked with an enthusiastic and engaged following. The ones that openly beg for more followers…well…please be more interesting. It’s not any more difficult or challenging than that. Begging and petitioning for followers is cheap, and lazy.

So where am I going with this, and how does any of this apply to Montreal?

I’m jumping the gun and gazing in to my crystal ball, but sooner than later, Jacques Martin is going to announce who the Canadiens next captain will be. The front runners right now are Brian Gionta and Josh Gorges. I think most agree that either would be an excellent choice, including their teammates. Other candidates in the mix include Michael Cammalleri, Andrei Markov, and to a lesser degree, Tomas Plekanec, Scott Gomez, Hal Gill, and even P.K. Subban.  Regardless of who is selected, it won’t stop some members of the media, looking for sound bites, desperate for something, from shoving a microphone in to the faces of all involved and asking ridiculous questions like:

1. “Were you expecting to be named captain?”
2. “Are you upset that you weren’t named captain?”
3. “Do you think X should have been selected instead of X?”
4. “Should the captain start taking French lessons?”
5. “Will not being named captain affect your upcoming contract status?”
6. “What does it mean to you to be captain?”
7. “How will being named captain change the way you play?”

Let’s make it easy for those question askers right now by answering the questions for them:

1. “No, there’s plenty of leadership here and it’s tough to settle on one guy”
2. “It would have been an honour, but I’m happy for X. He’s a great guy and deserving of his nomination”
3. “No, there’s plenty of leadership here and it’s tough to settle on one guy”
4. “I don’t know…that’s a tough one. There’s so many responsibilities and commitments as a player, but if there’s time then it can’t hurt”
5. “No”
6. “This is a storied franchise with a rich history and to be included with the names that have come before me is a huge honour and a dream come true”
7. “Not at all. The player I was is what made me captain, and I don’t think I’ll change the way I play one bit”

There. That wasn’t hard, was it? Now that we have that out of the way, perhaps the media can think of some better questions to ask that actually bring some value to the fans.

Most, if not all of those questions are 100% predictable. The answers may vary a little, but not much. We know this because we’ve been subjected to the “lather, rinse, repeat” drill forever, or so it seems. None of those questions are going to reveal anything insightful. Nothing written based on these responses will be interesting. None of those questions are intended to do anything but hopefully elicit a response that will fan the flames of potential discord amongst the team, and among the fans. The players are well coached (in the PR sense, not in the on-ice sense, that’s another story!) and are unlikely to give the media anything to run with.

The two points I’m getting at with this post is that the media needs to find ways to keep up with the surging wealth of quality content out there that is being produced by those who have nothing but passion driving them. Take a look at @wyshynsky’s great idea of “Mount Puckmore of all 30 NHL teams”. What a great way to get fans OF EVERY TEAM involved in an interesting topic. If mainstream media want to continue to be a part of the discussion, they’ll need to better use their priveleged access to generate better, more interesting stories and discussions. Even more important, they’ll need to learn to step out of their walled gardens and purge themselves of their “we talk, you listen” mentality.

What’s your take?

While the rest of the hockey world focuses on what a Russian star will be doing in 2027, let’s focus for a few minutes on what a closer to home Russian star will be doing in 2011.

It would not be sacrilege to say that Andrei Markov belongs in the same conversation with Doug Harvey, Larry Robinson, Serge Savard, Guy Lapointe and Chris Chelios as some of the best defensemen the team has ever had. When he’s in the lineup, the Canadiens are a drastically better team than when he’s not in the lineup. His tenure as current longest service Canadien and his undeniable skill has put him in the conversation to be the team’s next captain. Yes, Markov is without a doubt one of the franchise’s all-time best; one of the bright spots, along with Saku Koivu during some depressing years in Montreal. It should also come as no surprise that if Markov plays his entire career as a member of the Canadiens, he will have his jersey retired whether he wins a Cup or Norris trophy, or neither. Have I made my feelings on him clear? Is this enough of a disclaimer? I hope so, because some of you may not like me when you finish this article.

Markov is entering the final season on a contract that pays him a very palatable $5.75 million dollars per season. At that price, Markov is an absolute steal. Based on his numbers and abilities, he ought to be making at least $7 million dollars. Come July 1st, 2011, he’ll probably get somewhere close to that number. The question is – who will be the one to give it to him, and for how long?

Markov has suffered 3 major injuries to his lower body in the past 18 months. Maple Leafs pest Mikhail Grabovsky sent him flying in to the boards, which demolished his knee. He missed the end of the season and the sweep vs the Bruins in 08-09. To kick off the 09-10 campaign, he had his achilles nearly severed by Carey Price’s skate blade. After a shorter than expected rehab (but still too long for the Habs and their fans), he made his return and everyone thought the worst was behind him. Wrong. In the second round of the playoffs, Penguins dirtbag Matt Cooke knocked Markov off his feet and in to the boards. The awkwardness of the fall again badly messed up his knee. Don’t kid yourself, these injuries take their toll, and it doesn’t take much when you’re older than 30 to permanently lose a step. This on top of the injuries that Markov has suffered in the earlier stages of his career. These all add up and have their cumulative effects. When Markov returns from his latest setback, the microscope will be on him more than ever. Has he lost that step? Can he still keep the opposition’s top players at bay? Trust me, everyone will be watching.

So here we find ourselves today wrestling over what to do with Markov as his free agency looms. Make no mistake, until Canadiens General Manager Pierre Gauthier says something definitive, which he won’t, this will be among the top 3 topics of conversation among Canadiens fans this year.

The pollyanna-ish hope is to give Markov a new offer and simply he’ll sign it. All indications are that he loves Montreal, and wants to play his entire career here. Sure, that sounds simple enough, but sadly it doesn’t reflect the full reality of the situation. Surprisingly, in the era of the salary cap the Canadiens tight cap situation is not the biggest factor in whether or not Markov resumes his career with the bleu-blanc-rouge.

Does he really want to be here? Would he be willing to sign a similar deal to the one that is expiring? If the answer is yes to both of those, then Markov will be back, sans doute and Habs fans everywhere should smile at their good fortune. On the flip side, if he wants to be here, but for upwards of $7 million for 5-6 years…houston, we have a problem.

It takes two to tango. Do the Canadiens want him back? He’s a good guy, a team leader and means a ton the team’s success or failure. None of those things are the issue. Do they think he’s reliable enough from a durability standpoint, considering he’s on the wrong side of 30 to continue being the team’s #1 defenseman? That’s a question none of us have the answers to, as much as we think we might. No doubt at some point this year we’ll hear a clip from the tight-lipped Gauthier that will sound an awful lot like:

“Andrei Markov is a key part of this franchise and we’d love to have him back as a part of this team going forward.”

This is nothing but canned speech. Of course they’d love to have him back…what else are they going to say?

“We think Andrei has run his course as a member of this team, and we’re going to look at trading him”. This destroys his trade potential trade value.

“We are going to let Andrei explore his options come July 1st”. This would spawn a public relations nightmare. I’ll eat my monitor if we ever hear either of those from the Canadiens.

If the Canadiens truly want Markov back, then Gauthier will need to break away from tradition and find a way to get Markov signed to an extension before the trade deadline. Why before the trade deadline? Two reasons (at least):

1) Because Gauthier cannot risk losing Markov for nothing after July 1st, 2011.

Some team will be willing and able to pay more than the Canadiens can afford for Markov, and he’s worth way too much in terms of prospects and picks to simply let walk away for nothing in return. Yes, the Canadiens will have some cap room, but not a ton of it. They can’t get carried away and start matching $7+ million dollar offers for his services on a long-term contract that will take Markov in to his late 30’s. If he has his priorities straight, Gauthier will get him signed to a reasonable long-term contract before he is wooed by teams looking to bolster their playoff chances. But as I said, the cap isn’t really the issue.

2) Avoid the inevitable distractions.

I’m aware that the Canadiens don’t typically weaken themselves at the deadline, or wave the white flag on the season, but I don’t want to hear anything from Gauthier and the Canadiens along the lines of staying status quo and negotiating when the season concludes. The hand-wringing and hair-pulling will reach fever pitch in Montreal as the season progresses if Markov remains unsigned. The media will incessantly flog this issue on the radio, on tv, in print and on the web until (and after) it is resolved. The fans will light forums, blogs and twitter ablaze with nervosity. It will be unavoidable, and such issues of this magnitude always disrupt team unity and divide fan bases.

Yes, I know. The mantra in Montreal is ”playoffs-or-bust”. This mantra usually means that the Habs hang on to their assets in an attempt to ensure 8th place or better. This time its different. This is not the same as letting beloved captain Saku Koivu go for nothing. Markov is worth far more than Koivu. If Brian Burke can demand a King’s ransom for Tomas Kaberle (which, granted, has yet to be met), Gauthier can ask for a God’s ransom for Markov and be more likely to get it. This cannot be ignored. It would be downright silly and irresponsible for Gauthier to not know what he can get for Markov via trade, just in case he can’t get him signed before the deadline. Many people don’t like Gauthier already, and for him to bury his head in the sand would do nothing but stoke those fires. Every General Manager knows what his assets are worth, whether he wants to move them or not, and if he doesn’t, I’m willing to bet that his team isn’t doing very well.

At the end of the day, I believe, and hope Markov will be back as a member of the Canadiens. Pierre Gauthier has surprised me during his brief reign as General Manager, and I think he’ll do things the right way here. I can never know the answer to this, but I believe Markov wants to remain a member of the team, and Gauthier knows that he has one of the league’s top-5 defensemen in his stable. But Habs fans should absolutely prepare themselves for the possibility, however remote, that Markov be elsewhere come opening day of the 2011-2012 season. It’s a heartbreaking possibility, but one that if you aren’t prepared for it, your resulting sadness and anger will be brought on by none other than yourself. We should have all learned this lesson multiple times as free agent after free agent left Montreal for other cities in recent years. Only Plekanec’s recent signing has turned the tide. At the very least, prepare yourself for LOTS of chatter from fans who insist that Markov be traded before he walks away for nothing. It’s the nature of the beast in this town and we should all be used to it by now.

However, if Markov is not extended by March 2nd, 3 p.m. EST, I would stock up on crying towels.

Just in case.

The braying fools are in a tizzy again.

Habs General Manager Pierre Gauthier has made a blunder for the ages! He told Simon Gagné that he wasn’t going to do the equivalent of grabbing his ankles while bending over backwards to have him for 1 year.

Good for Gauthier, says I.

Yes, I know. Gagné is a proven scorer and has been for a decade. He’s also injury prone, but lets not let the facts get in the way of a good piece of fiction.

Gagné and his 5+ million dollar contract was made expendable once the Flyers brought in Nikolai Zherdev. As the story goes, Gagné’s agent phoned Canadiens GM Gauthier before anyone else and asked if there was interest, and if a deal could be made.

“Thanks, but no thanks…no cap room” was the response from the Habs.

Apparently that’s not a good enough answer for many who see the salary cap as nothing but a minor detail. For some, it would have been better to pull the trigger on the deal for the all-star forward and worry about the cap situation later. But is that the smartest thing to do? Gagné was on record as saying that he would have been willing to try Montreal for a year, and see where it goes. It doesn’t take a genius to see that the Canadiens would not have the means next year to sign Gagné to a long-term deal next season. Yes, Markov, and Hamrlik come off the books. Right there is 11 million in cap room saved. There’s also a bunch of RFAs that will come around again, and potential captain Josh Gorges will be seeking a raise. Oh, and don’t the Canadiens do a lot better with Markov in the lineup? That’s right, they do.

In order to make the deal happen now, the Canadiens would have had to send a prospect or a a player that makes next to nothing to Philadelphia for Gagné. The Flyers were not in a position to take on any additional heavy salary. But taking on Gagné also puts the Canadiens well over the cap, and Carey Price (and 2 more depth players) have yet to sign. Wait, it gets stickier. In order to make room for a top-6 forward, Gauthier would then have to move a top-6 forward. We know Gomez, Plekanec, Gionta and Cammalleri aren’t going anywhere. This leaves Benoit Pouliot and Andrei Kostitsyn as potential moveable pieces. Moving Pouliot and his 1.35 million dollar deal isn’t enough to get the Habs back under the cap. So that leaves no other option except moving Andrei Kostitsyn and his 3.25 million dollar deal. “No biggie”, many fans would say. “Good riddance”, many others would say. Not only would Kostitsyn have to go, but probably another lowly paid player in order to bring back the buffer zone under the cap would have to be dealt.

Does moving Kostitsyn make sense in this case? He will be a restricted free agent at the end of next season, and at the age of 26, will be entering his prime. He’s not worth moving now solely to make space for a more expensive player that would not deliver all that much more than Kostitsyn can, if he’s engaged, used properly and healthy. Yes, Gagné is a much more proven scorer than Kostitsyn. Yes, Kostitsyn had only 15 goals last year. That was an off year, an abberation, and everyone should know it. He’s far more likely to net 25 than 15 again, and we all know he could easily hit 30 if things go right for him. Under Jacques Martin’s system, Gagné would be lucky to hit 30 goals – if he stayed healthy. We’ve not even spoken about if Gagné is a fit with the Canadiens. With Gionta and Cammalleri established as snipers on the team, and on the powerplay, is there enough ice for a 3rd highly paid sniper? In a defensive, passive system where the Canadiens play shorthanded more than they do with the man advantage? Probably not.

At next season’s end, we’ll see just how much Gagné wants to play in Montreal. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent, and if he wants to be here so badly, he’ll listen closely to Pierre Gauthier, if Gauthier so chooses to make a pitch for his services.

I don’t truly believe that Simon Gagné wanted to be here, at least not for the long-term. What we’ve been witness to is “public relations” and “saving face”. I believe that Gauthier was prudent in not trying to move mountains to bring in a highly paid, injury prone (yet terrific) player. We’ve been down the road of giving up a lot for the services of a talented Quebec-born player for a single season before, and we saw how that went.

Remember Alex Tanguay?

Doesn’t Montreal deserve a new baseball stadium built to look just like this one?

Considering the content of this blog you’d probably be surprised to learn that in my younger years, I was a devout baseball fan, and hockey was a distant second on my radar. I first got the baseball bug in 1984 when I was just six years old. I enrolled in tee-ball and played the game for the next 11 years. Prior to 1984, the only thing that really mattered to me was Star Wars. Hockey didn’t enter the picture until the ‘89 Cup finals. I have vague recollections of ‘86, but nothing more. Fast forward 26 years and I’ll tell you that hockey and Star Wars are my bread and butter, but baseball has slipped considerably. Without a doubt, the departure of the Expos had almost everything to do with my drop in interest.

If I were in to online wagering, after the Expos left in 2004, I would have bet any amount that baseball was dead in Montreal forever. Most of that sentiment was emotional and very irrational. Teams come and go, of course, and there is always hope the game can live again in Montreal. A lot of people have allowed their love of the game die, some have promised never to give Bud Selig and Major League Baseball another cent, but many more have merely let their love of baseball slip in to hibernation. These latter two groups should be elated, as I was, when it was announced on the team 990’s airwaves that former Expos outfielder Warren ‘Cro’ Cromartie is working with Marc Griffin, and others to bring an Independent Baseball League team to Montreal.

If I didn’t have such a massive office chair, I would have fallen off upon hearing that news.

Whenever ‘Cro’ would be on as a guest on Mitch Melnick’s afternoon show, fans would constantly encourage him to try and bring ball back to Montreal. It seems he’s now going to give it a shot, and I for one could not be happier.

The pessimist in me can’t help but think this is going to be one big tease, but there’s no reason why a city the size of Montreal could not be (and isn’t) home to a professional baseball team. To those not in the know, baseball in Montreal goes WAY back. Famously, Jackie Robinson got his start in professional baseball back in the 1940’s when he broke baseball’s colour barrier with the Montreal Royals. Other prominent Royals include Tommy Lasorda, Duke Snider, Don Drysdale and Roy Campanella; all hall of famers. But did you know that the Royals are actually older than your beloved Montreal Canadiens? Though they were defunct between 1918-1927, the Royals were actually founded back in 1897, 12 years before J. Ambrose O’Brien founded the Canadiens at a Montreal hotel. For further perspective, the Royals went belly-up in 1960, after 52 seasons of ball in Montreal, and NINE seasons before the Expos played their first game. In an ill-fated attempt to bring affordable baseball back to Montreal, the Canadian Baseball League, in 2003 started up (and died that same year). The Montreal Royales were one of eight teams to play in the league during its inaugural (and final) year, but because the Royales couldn’t (or perhaps smartly wouldn’t) play their home games at Olympic Stadium, they never actually played a home game in the Montreal area.

My mind is racing, but for this to work, Cromartie and his group would need to have their team play in a stadium not called the “Big O”, not even temporarily. People simply won’t go. It’s a dump; cold and sterile, out of the way, not to mention the fears of falling concrete. It carries the hurtful baggage of being the Expos home for so long. Basically, the Olympic Stadium is to ballparks what Tatooine is to Star Wars, minus the twin suns. But before a team can be brought to Montreal, a stadium would have to be built. A small, cozy, open-air stadium that would sit 10,000 people would be more than enough to make this work. The stadium wouldn’t even have to be half-full to make it work! The location of the stadium is also critical. With people exiting the city for the outlying suburbs, it’s crucial that the stadium be in a place that is easily accessible by all. The part of town where the Olympic Stadium currently sits is not accessible, parking is scarce and with all due respect to the people that live around there, it’s the ass-end of town now.

I badly miss watching a game where time is not a factor, where you can sit outside and enjoy the beautiful (and sometimes not so beautiful) weather. Baseball, unlike other spectator sports is a game where you can chat with friends in the stands, and get lost in the atmosphere of a great stadium without feeling like you’re missing the game. In hockey, if you blink, you’ll miss something. There is NO sound in any sport as inextricably linked to summertime as the crack of a bat. That sound been brutally absent in Montreal for 5 years now, and it’s time that gaping void is filled.

If you’re a Montrealer, and miss baseball as much as I do, this is great news. I’ll keep listening for, and posting updates here and on twitter. I also created a twitter account specifically focused on bringing baseball back to Montreal. You can follow that account here, and follow the facebook group called “Baseball in Montreal – Baseball à Montréal“, founded by Game Points on Team990 host Matthew Ross. The group is already at 496 members, so let’s try to push that above 500 and beyond!

So the NHL has poo-pooed the 102-million, 17-year Ilya Kovalchuk contract. They’ve kicked the feet out from under the Devils, Kovalchuk and his agent, Jay Grossman. As usual, the decision has divided fans and media, and why not? The league has allowed these deals to go through for several years now. See Hossa, Marian; Luongo, Roberto; DiPietro, Rick. There are others, but these are the ones chiefly referenced as precedent-setting.

What’s the big deal?

When you were a kid, your parents likely let you get away with a few things here and there which they told you not to do. Maybe curfew was 11pm (and not a minute past). Yet you stretched it…11:03, 11:05…slowly, gradually testing the limits, hoping that one day you could comfortably stroll in at midnight without a hassle. Until the day that you came in at 11:07. Such a small infraction, but Dad takes the keys away. A little harsh? I guess, since you had been getting away with it with no repercussions. So what’s different this time? Johnny gets home a few minutes late all the time…heck, everyone does! Too bad. You knew the rules and you kept stretching them. You HAD to know it was going to bite you at some point. Shame on you if you didn’t. Your anger is probably more out of embarassment than anything else.

Fine, the Devils didn’t break any rules. They’ve (not so cleverly) exploited a legal loophole. But it’s bullshit and you know it. Yes, they should have put the kibosh on these sorts of deals long ago. But slowly, teams have been testing the limits of realism with these deals. The NHL has had enough, and if the early indications are correct, the New Jersey Devils are not going to appeal the decision. Translation: “Ok, you got me, you got me!”

Because Bettman and friends didn’t correct past mistakes doesn’t mean he shouldn’t fix what he can now. It’s the same stupid, lazy argument with headshots. “Well, Mike Richards went unpunished, so did Matt Cooke, so why should Ovechkin be punished?”. Sorry to use parent-speak here, but two wrongs don’t make a right.

When negotiations on the CBA are opened, the NHL will attempt to close this loophole. If the players have any smarts about them, they’ll allow it to be closed for their own good.  Matt Reitz, blogger from View From My Seats has good reasons why. Basically, it’s one word: Escrow.

Might I suggest that the NHL insist on having contracts approved by the league before any formal announcement is made by the team? For a league that is often accused of being a laughing stock, having fluffy press conferences to announce the signing of the league’s most coveted free agent, only to torpedo the whole thing is highly embarassing. And while we’re at it, didn’t this press conference seem like the equivalent of a football team lining up to get the next play in after they know they just benefitted from a questionable call just seconds earlier? I could be wrong, but it seems like the Devils thought if they threw this press conference, they’d essentially be daring the league to negate this deal, lest they get egg on their face.

For once, the league has done the right thing. It sucks for the Devils, who may not get Kovalchuk back, and it really sucks for their fans, but that’s too bad. Lou Lamoriello pretty much had his hand forced by ownership to make the deal happen (need proof? LouLam said he didn’t like the Hossa deal and he rolled his eyes at the structure and length of the DiPietro deal. Why do it yourself unless you were being pressured by your boss to get it done?).

What’s your take?

“I thought ‘Fil’ and Bertuzzi together were really good for us, really got going. And then, obviously ‘Pav’ and ‘Homer’ and ‘Mule’ have been excellent for us, and I thought ‘Z’ and ‘Clears’ chipped in as well. That was good. ‘Helmer’s’ group had a real good night, and that’s what you need, you need everyone on deck.”

Gazette reporter Dave Stubbs ruined Canada Day for many Habs fans with news that Scott Gomez has received permission to wear former longtime captain Saku Koivu’s number 11.

For many, it’s too soon to see anyone wear Saku’s number, myself included. Mind you, I didn’t lose a moment’s sleep over it. I believe the Canadiens should have waited a little longer before letting someone else don the number that once belonged to a players that gave so much to the team, the fans, and the city.

But how long? For some, the number ought to be retired and never worn again, and perhaps it will some day. I’m not entirely convinced of that, but that’s another discussion for another blog post. For some fans, the one season sans number 11 was enough of a nod of respect to Koivu. For others, maybe two seasons, or three or even five seasons would be more appropriate. The fact is there is no consensus.

At the end of the day, the Canadiens gave Gomez the green light to wear it. Did Gomez check with Koivu to see what he feels? I have no idea, but he probably didn’t if I had to guess. He did say that he has tons of respect for Koivu; who doesn’t? It’s likely that the players aren’t getting their knickers in a twist over this, so why are so many fans?

It’s like a parent dating someone new after the other parent passes away. It just feels too soon, too quick to bury and forget the past. Memories of Koivu are still too vivid to just be put away like this. But I will say this, because I believe it: it IS important to satisfy the guy you’re paying 7.5 million dollars to for the next four seasons (on the flip side, some would suggest that if Gomez needs a number to be happy, he’s no more mature than a 7 year old). If wearing number 11 makes Gomez as happy as he says it will, then I don’t see the harm, especially since the team has granted him permission. They did wait, showing some respect to Koivu. And the happiness of their CURRENT players counts.

Once again, Habs fans find themselves looking back at the past in reverence. We just went through two seasons of revelry, the first of which was a full-blown circus. I’ll say it again: I personally feel like it is still too soon, but I’ve always been one to care more about what’s happening with the Canadiens now, and in the future. The past is important, and always will be. Whenever a player comes here, the first thing out of their mouth is how they are honored to come to a team with such a rich history; and they’re right. But the Habs, and the fans have to stop letting the past dictate how the present and future is managed.

I know I’ve straddled the fence a little here. So what do I really think? I think this move is ok. They showed Saku some respect, although not as much as I would have expected. In doing so, they are making a core member of the team happy. To me, it’s as close to win-win as it gets without having a public inquiry on how long is long enough before allowing 11 on the ice again.

How do you feel about knowing someone else will be wearing 11 again?

He’s baaaaack!

Ok, so by now it’s old news to all Habs fans, but Pleky is going to ply his trade in Montreal until 2016, at a 5 million dollar cap hit per season. It’s a little bit more than I would have liked to see him signed for (the length is perfect, in my opinion), but given the dearth of competent, legitimate 2-way centermen on the free agent market, the deal he signed has to be viewed as a bargain by the Habs and their fans.

The problem I do see, however, is twofold (and not unexpected):

1. Gauthier had to expend a lot of cap space in keeping Plekanec, and he had to shed Halak in order to do it. In other words, we are still looking at the same team, albeit a more expensive one that is not in any way improved.
2. The Canadiens are still very small down the middle. Individually, I like Gomez and Plekanec. Money aside, I really do. But their size is a problem. After the Penguins series, I was all hopped up and told the hockey world to shut it’s fat yapper forever about the “small” Habs. I guess I spoke too soon because the way the Flyers kept the Habs at bay was a rude awakening. Leighton had 3 shutouts, not because he was incredible, but because he was not called upon very often to make big, in-close saves. The Habs were simply unable to penetrate the Flyers big defensive squad. So yeah, as usual, size IS a problem, and has been for well over a decade. Gauthier must address this, but I’m not holding my breath.

Gionta, Gomez, Cammalleri and Plekanec are all under 6 feet tall, which leaves 2 forward spots open on the top lines. Currently, they are occupied by Andrei Kostitsyn, and (most likely) Benoit Pouliot. Both have the size and skill to scratch the itch, but do they have the will to get dirty and provide the muscle and sandpaper the Canadiens desperately need up front? I don’t think so. Trading Kostitsyn will free up cap space and allow Gauthier to find a grittier guy. Trading Pouliot will bring nothing but future considerations. I’m not in love with the idea of trading AK46 because his type of talent doesn’t grow on trees, but if moving him can fill a need and improve the team, then it should be done, right? That’s the whole point isn’t it- to have a better team?

How else can Gauthier improve this team? If he can move either Hamrlik or Spacek, that would also help. They were valiant this year for the Habs in Markov’s absence, and because the latter will be out of action (AGAIN!) for the first couple months of the year, perhaps Gauthier can’t or shouldn’t move them.

In short, I’m not sure that Gauthier has much choice but to ice virtually the same team as last season, but at a higher cost. So before we slam him for failing to improve the team, let’s recall my post from last week, in which I point out that Gainey was the one that put together this good, but expensive team that is laced with costly, lengthy and almost unmoveable contracts. What we see is what we will get for many years.

How would you improve the Habs for next year?

Note: Congratulations to Mathieu Darche, who’s dedication, work ethic, and relatively good play earned him his first ever one-way contract in the NHL. He’ll stick around next season to mentor young kids and play a depth role. He’ll also find time in the press box, but he won’t gripe one bit about it. He’ll be carefully observing and taking mental notes; I’m certain we will see this guy wearing a different title within the Habs organization one day soon.

Note #2: Check out Five Hole For Food, and please consider contributing to the cause next week. Ball hockey, charity, and a stick signed by your Habs up for the most generous food donater…what’s not to like?