An hour before it started I finally get an answer from Berube in Colombus, the arena is filling up, kids everywhere, I can barely hear him but the gist of our conversation is resumed in him saying ‘’ not a lot of foreign kids ‘’.
I get put on hold for what seems an infinity and finally get cut in as I think Anthony ended up putting his phone back in his pocket thinking I hung up …
Well Anthony hope that phone bill won’t be too insane …
As the ceremony got started I got the chance to exchange messages on MSN and the Habs Forum with a lot of guys, but needless to say a lot of the speculation leading up to that point was that the Habs would ideally pick Esposito by moving up or having him available at 12.
I doubted it, and some people were cringing to see the Rempart’s centerman in a Habs jersey. Nevertheless when Cherepanov and Esposito were available at 12 and Ryan Mcdonagh climbed up to receive la Sainte Flanelle from the Habs, I couldn’t help but feel a mix of confusion and tranquility wash through me …
I had posted previously that this year the BPA would not apply to the Habs and that a more ‘’ core specific ‘’ approach would be taken in approaching this draft, but I was convinced that the Habs were in need of the offensive ‘’ Zest ‘’ Esposito could bring to the line-up … smarty pants that I thought I was so convinced that Gainey’s armistice with the French media was almost signed that I even hassled Kevin Veilleux ( A massive LHJMQ forward ) to give me a post draft Q&A, convinced as god-given candy, that both these boys would be Habs.
Well all in all, I quickly realized I had all but setup to make this a Pittsburgh D-day to my disarray, and oh well … both my guys are going to the Pens … but hey, Trevor Timmins isn’t writing this blog right ?
The Habs picked Mcdonagh, and I knew a ‘’ teeny weeny ‘’ bit about the kid from reading some information about him off a blog, what quickly sprang into my mind were the words – Defenceman and Big.
But right after those words left my mouth I quickly said to myself … nope, your thinking Fischer … But hell googling confirmed this, and I was a bit bemused by Timmins’s selection to say the least.
You see the selection of Paciorety and Mcdonagh opens up a can of worms that I do not believe the Habs needed entering training camp, if the Habs were not going to select Esposito, then why is Timmins saying things like : ‘’ We don’t think he’ll be available come our time to chose ‘’, why do guys like Boivin say that the Habs will definitely put an emphasis on Quebec born players come the time to put a ‘’ stamp ‘’ on the future …
Timmins also had Esposito at the Bell Centre for more tests and stated he was impressed wit the kid's result, ONLY to state after the draft ... we had him rated lower ...
Bad PR Move Trevor, you created an '' expectation '' and we can't even say it was unintentional ! We were teased !Right now the Habs have a brilliant future ahead, but it sure ain’t parlez vous Francais, and not that there is anything wrong with that, but here is maybe what the difference is between running a hockey team and running the Montreal Canadiens :
Rule 1 – You can’t run the Canadiens like you run a regular hockey team.
Montreal is more than a hockey hub, it’s the MECCA of hockey, people breathe it, eat it, see it, talk it, spend countless hours on hockey boards typing about it, criticizing and passing judgment on every single move this organization makes.
You will be scrutinized by countless journalists, radio hosts, fans, bloggers, babies etc … etc …
When you know all this, you have to have a manipulative edge to you to insure longevity and general contentedness, especially if your present team isn’t producing any results, and most importantly, you HAVE to throw the french '' Bone '' here and there to keep the media and french fans happy.
Gainey stayed honest and played his cards like a good GM would.
The result of this produced an uproar in the city this weekend !
People were genuinely angry. Angry at the organization, for snubbing talented Quebec born forwards.
If the Draft was truly not as deep as Gainey and other scouts stated, it could have been a perfect opportunity to throw the fans a bone, instead he let Timmins do the homework necessary for draft day, which is exactly the thing a smart management operator tells you to do.
But come training camp Paciorety and Mcdonagh will have the weight of countless failures ala Doug Wickenhiser and Denis Savard to be confronted with. This along with seeing Crosby tryout a new linemate in Esposito, and a huge third liner with pretty good hands called Kevin Veilleux, will create a negative environment and approach towards these two kids
These kids are genuinely going to need the organization to protect them, Especially from the brain dead questions you heard from some of the RDS crew.
because as I’ve stated …
Montreal ain’t no regular hockey town.
