The Trade Deadline - A Dissapointment For Some

Our beloved bandwagonners are at it again. Not only does their average hockey knowledge rival that of a hedgehog, but it seems these Epsilons are around to cheer when we win and cry when we don't. I don't even know a proper adjective to describe the uneasy feelings I had after reading such comments as "Bob Gainey has no idea what he's doing" "we're the laughing stock of the league" "we suck so much" and even the likes of "oh my god...we haven't traded anyone...this sux...I wan to die...I'm so sad"

What in the blue blazing, Tiger Woods praising, Leprecon chasing are these people playing. This is not a "who can trade the most and best" game. This is about constant improvement...never taking a step back and taking. It is about calculated risks, calculated return on investments and calculated decisions. I hate to generalise, but I can only assume this bunch of cradle GMs are too young to understand any of this so here is a free lesson in maturity from HLD. When one says such things it completely rids you of any level of respect. If you are incapable of reason, at least don't say something for the sake of talking...you'll be much better off.

I sincerely apologise for bickering about this, but this group has reached an all time low in their attitude and comments. Worse part is that I'm fairly certain they are the majority in here, and that saddens me. Too bad they are too focused on whining to come in here and learn a little something about hockey, patience, trust and respect.

With that said, let's talk about the trade deadline. Although it would have been nice to bring in some big names, and that it sux having to see all the teams in the race improve on paper I don't think any of us can be surprised about the outcome. This is what Bob does...this is his formula that gave his clubs success and brought in cups. It's not the only formula that works, but in my opinion not only is it the time proven best, but also in a place like Montreal with the realities of 40% taxes and media pressure it is the only one that will work.

We did not get any worse, and thanks to our astute GM, our future is still as brignt as the brightest. We are a very well balanced team and will remain that way. One day, when the time is right, we’ll give away the draft picks and prospects to make a legit run at the cup. This is the realities of the new NHL and is essentially the only way to win a cup. A dynasty will be hard to come by (i.e. hard to imagine a team win more than 1 cup in a 2-3 years type of pace). This year, as was in the previous ones, the time just wasn’t right. It wasn’t even close, and I am very glad Gainey didn’t put up a “Everything must go” sign at the Bell center to get a few names, make it to the second round, and have nothing to work with for the next 5 years. I would rather see my team compete legitimately for the last few places for the playoffs every year and slowly improve, than to have a see-saw career, be a top team for a few years, and watch them bring in 20 wins for the next few. This of course is just my ignorant opinion. If we go by a majority rules the norms perspective, than I am one tripped out, foolish, dude who knows nothing about anything, especially hockey” (yes this was also posted by a user in the forum in response to someone with a similar viewpoint as mine).

90% Will Get The Job Done...Most Of The Time

"Beginning the game strong and fading away after 5 minutes will not do it. "

My fellow MNers, please join hands and pray with me. Oh mighty Sponge Bob, we thank you for blessing us with an astute General Manager to sign this moody magician we call Kovalev. And oh holy Sponge Bob thank you for using your grand powers to ensure this Russian Rifle had a mighty heart last night. If we hadn't scored within 30 seconds of the Leafs goal, despite our magnificent start we would have once again faded away for the rest of the game, leading to yet another spanking by the anti-bobs playing from the west. Oh our all mighty Sponge Bob, in return for this bounty we offer you two dozen sacrificial souls who await you at the Air Canada Center. Granted, they are Maple Leafs so they're not much, but the whole roster should add up to something worthy of you troubles.

[QUOTE=Habs_Lovin'_Dag]Abby will have to bring his A game ... And by A I mean attentive. No softies, and don't let in the first goal on their first couple of shots[/QUOTE]

FAIL! And what a failure by Abby in his role. Since Huets injury he had two huge chances to establish him self as the number 1 goalie, and failed spectacularly at it. As has been pointed out earlier in the page by mighty Sponge Bob's disciple HTL, he has not been able to regain his form from earlier in the season. He had a few chances to steal the #1 spot from Huet beginning with Huets diminished performance in late December. Sure he was benched, and was cold, but that's hardly am excuse. When you're a back-up, you sit out unless the top guy looses his mojo or gets injured. You practice, stay sharp and prove your self when you get your chances. Case in point, remember how Huet stole the job from his counter part last year? He had his chances and failed. He is a good back-up goalie and from the looks of it will finish it there.

All that to say, cue Halak. And what better way to really establish him self with another win tonight?

"Everybody will have to be at their best, do their jobs properly and keep it up for 60 minutes...twice in two days. "

The majority of the team was grinding at 110% last night. A few brain farts in our end lead to a few turn-overs which created a few momentum shifts. But that's OK because for the most part we were quick to take control of the game back in our hands with a good shift by the 4th line, or a good PK, or a great individual effort by our impact players (thank you Sponge Bob).

Let's not celebrate just yet though. We have another big game tonight, and we have to get two more points. We're still out of the picture in NL standings, and if we want to jump in the brew, we must hold our NL at and hope the other teams pick up a few NLs.

Goodbye Rivet

Goodbye Rivet, you've been great and we've loved having you with us through good times and the bad. Too bad you were not able to finish your career here, but such is the nature of the beast.

Now for tonight’s game. Need I reiterate the importance of the next 48 hours? A minimum of 3/4 points is a must, but two wins are pretty much necessary following Saturday's poor outing.

If the boys still don't come out with heart, than they ar really looking to work on their golf swing and change careers. Toronto, as usual will come out playing 110% and we will need to be at our best to beat them. Beginning the game strong and fading away after 5 minutes will not do it either. Abby will have to bring his A game ... And by A I mean attentive. No softies, and don't let in the first goal on their first couple of shots.

Everybody will have to be at their best, do their jobs properly and keep it up for 60 minutes...twice in two days. Here is another chance to prove them selves and take matters in to their own hands. Let's see what they do.

Too Little Too Late

Superb effort, scoring chances coming out of the wazoo, what excitement. We were getting a shot on goal every 20 secs and had a solid scoring chance every minute. We were playing great and it was refreshing to see. Too bad this was only the last 5-7 minutes of the third. Too little too late.

How do two guys who worked till they dropped like Carbonneau and Muller make a team understand one must play a full 60 regardless of the scoreboard every night?

This is all I have to say about last night’s game. At a time when we have our backs against the wall, for a 4 point game with a team we are in direct contention in, if we come out flat like this, it does worry me a little.

I sure hope they can make it up tomorrow night with a spirited effort against the Leafs, and another win on Tuesday, if not we will have endured a huge kick in the proverbial crotch.

Still Do Oe Die

Another matinee game…what’s our record with these type of games anyway? We must be below 0.500. I sure hope the boys are awake for this one, because it is a very very important game. Not only is it a 4 point game, but coupled with a loss to the Leafs tonight, we can finally be masters of our own destiny once again.
The game plan should be simple: ”Stay out of the box!” Easier said than done however, because we cannot get away with the same things as the other tem, so the players don’t know how to gauge the refs’ limits. Plus they change from period to period, and the players can’t play without touching the opposition. The boys will just have to make a real conscious effort to never present them selves in a situation that might even resemble the slightest infraction. An added stress I know, but it should pay off in the long run.
I haven’t much to say about tonight’s …err….this afternoon’s game. I just cannot stress how spectacularly important these next two games are in terms of our positioning, and team morel. So here’s hoping :towel: Say it with me MN thread:

GO HABS GO!

Things Are Good, But Far From OK

The team keeps working, MN keeps dropping but we're not out of the woods yet. Our oppositions keep winning and despite being in seventh in points, NL shows a more accurate picture. There is no room to relax or let up. Looks like we'll have to grind all the way to April.

With that said, what a spirited come back for the boys! Good on the goalie for staying focused after going down 2-0 within 5 minutes in against the top contender for the cup. At around 5:30 when the deflection best Halak, I heard 50,000 TVs click off. I feel sorry for those chaps who will wake up this morning, check out the paper and realise they missed a heck of a game.

That was possibly our best game of the year with respect to our 5-5 play. Too bad the refs started the game off on a bad note with incomprehensible brain spasms of penalties called on Markhov and Guillaume. End result however was A OK.

I am entirely impressed by the performance of the team, fighting to come back. At a time where we question their heart, they dished out a come back to shut all the critics up.

These are all positive signs. Having won a game against Nashville via battling a two goal deficit three times means a lot more than potting a couple in the first and coasting to a "W". Furthermore, looking back at our mini stretch here, the goalie was short of superb, but got the job done, and our "key" player who are not injured have been performing to par.

Last night Samsonov did what we all expected him to do all season long, and he has been doing so since the ugly waiver incident. Although it left a bad taste in ones mouth, the coaching staff’s actions and gambles seem to have paid off, because we now have our Free agent who was signed during the summer. Let's just say he was "injured" this whole time, and now he's in the lone up. We'll need him to remain "healthy" if we want to go in to the playoffs and some.

Things are looking good folks. Much better than anything we've seen for a while, and it's about time. But let me remind you once again we are far from being out of the lion's den. Our current situation is still very tight, but at least now we're headed in the right direction.

PS Sorry to disappoint you all but the NL standings have not changed since everyone picked up points last night. The only way to move up NL will be for us to win in NY and the laughs to loose in regulation. Than on Sunday’s update we’ll be in 8^th. Following that any loss (regulation or OT/SO) to the Islanders could aid us in climbing to seventh. Needless to say we need to keep winning, and they need to keep loosing.

Keep The Ball Rolling

Tonight could be the night we get our fate back in our hands. I don’t like being on the outside looking in, so I hope the Boys play desperate hockey and take one against arguably the best team in the league. Situations of the sort seem to bring the best in us, so we’ll see what happens.

Guy Carbonneau has to start Halak in net tonight in order to reward him. The team is on a mini-roll so DON’T CHANGE A THING. If we score the first goal or two once again tonight, I will be watching our defensive play and Halak closely once again to see whether we’ve learned our lesson (hardly doubt it) or if we’ll be slacking off until they catch up again. The last thing we want to do with as team like Nashville is give them the momentum so I sure hope the coaching staff can bring out the Carbonneau in all of them so they keep working and keep trying to score goals, even if we’re up by 10 (that would be nice wouldn’t it!)

Looks like Higgins is back, and I sure hope he’s not being rushed in. But having the first line play the way we know it can has definitely been a sight for soar eyes. We will need everything they can give us. Our second line is working hard. They’ll be scoring as of two weeks from now once we get our mystery man in there which we’ll be getting for Souray.

Man BG is a genius! He could have pulled the trigger on a deal with San Jose (speculation people…just my educated guess) a long time ago, but by waiting till the deadline he gets all the GMs salivating and competing for him. I am looking forward to getting someone who will add value now and in the future in return for Souray. This will give us the offensive power to help with a charge…I hope.