Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Gomez a Hab

Higgins to the NYR...wow...as per TSN. 

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Thoughts on the Draft

Pretty good summary of the Canadiens' picks can be found here:

http://habsinsideout.com/boone/20778

As for the overall feel, it didn't seem as though things were quite as unpredictable as you might have otherwise guessed. The first 30 picks went largely in order of what the experts had predicted, and there wasn't much movement in terms of players being swapped or huge jumps in pick position.

The night started off with the big news of Chris Pronger being traded to Philly, and that was really it in terms of impact moves until earlier today when the Flames acquired the rights to negotiate with Jay Bouwmeester. In perhaps a bit of a surprise there was hardly any noise at all from the hometown Habs, although with UFA season kicking off on Wednesday that will surely change in the very near future. Right???

Friday, June 26, 2009

Feeling Drafty

It's the big day in Montreal, as the NHL holds the first round of it's annual entry draft. Many questions will hopefully be answered before the day is out, including:

-What order will the top three prospects (Tavares, Hedman and Duchene) go in, and who will they go to?

-Will we see any trades (picks, players or both)? Rumors continue to swirl about Lecavalier, Bouwmeester, Kaberle and others, so will anything actually come to pass?

-What crazy scheme will Brian Burke orchestrate?

-How soundly will Garry Bettman be booed?

-What position will the player from Minnesota that the Habs draft in the first round play?


For the answers to these questions and more, tune in to TSN tonight at 7 PM.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Habs Sold

Looks like deja vu all over again, with the Molson family set to take over majority control of Les Habitants from George Gillett pending the necessary league approval.

The price of the transaction is expected to be in excess of $500 million.

No word yet on what effect (if any) this will have on management and the roster with the entry draft set for this coming Friday in Montreal. It's expected that more information to those ends will come out later in the week as details on the sale are expanded.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=282431

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Congratulations...

to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the 2009 Stanley Cup Champions...as I predicted. And many of you did, too!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Alex Emelin signs in Russia

Well that's too bad. Habs could have used him.

Oh well. Better get Vinny.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Quick hits...

What a final it has been so far...this blogger says it goes seven.

Some quick rumours...TEAM 990 reports that Vincent Lecavalier purchased a house last week blocks from the Canadiens practice arena in Brossard. This is VL's third Montreal-area residence, but the proximity to the rink, and the suburban location, is puzzling. The previous two pads are a condo downtown and a house in the neighbourhood where he grew up. A sign of things to come?

TEAM 990 also reports that the Canadiens should announce a resolution to the coaching staff situation later this week. Kirk Muller and Doug Jarvis have both sat down with Jacques Martin and been formally interviewed. I'm betting Muller stays and Jarvis goes down to the AHL.

Predictions on the staff: Muller, Lever (he's Gainey's guy), Marc Crawford (a few have rumoured him, he has a Cup, get him on there), and David Marcoux as the goaltending coach (he of Calgary fame). 

Monday, June 1, 2009

Jacques Martin to coach

Apparently, Mario Tremblay will be an assistant. Back to the scene of the crime...

So Martin went from a new candidate to coach in four hours. You gotta love Montreal. 

That Was Fast...

Jacques Martin is the new head coach of the Canadiens. A press conference is scheduled for 2 PM to officially introduce him.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=280562

Winged Wheel Keeps on Rolling

Up 2-0, and without their Hart Trophy candidate? Did anybody expect this from an "old" team playing on short rest?

For those thinking that the Pens can still take this, recall that in 32 previous series where a team has gone up 2-0, that team has won 31 times. Also, does anybody really see this Detroit team losing 4 of the next 5? Seems pretty unlikely to me...

Pens in Seven

They'll come back.

And also: a new coach in Montreal? Rumour is Jacques Martin.