Rivet

It all goes back to an early November morning in 2006 when RDS’s Yvon Pednault walked to the press box that overlooks Bell Center ice.

The ice had it’s sprinkling of Habs players and noticeable among them was Craig Rivet and a few members of the Canadiens well garnered press corp. The night was going to be a big one for the Habs defence celebrating the Jersey Retirement of ex-GM and Hall of famer Serge Savard.

‘’ He’s one of those guys who’s probably gonna be on TV once his career is over ‘’

Craig Rivet would of course be traded that year for a young unknown by the name of Josh Gorges, followed closely by Yvon Pednault the following year who would leave the RDS broadcast throne to a more modest role with CKAC Radio.

And like Pednault, Rivet’s career didn’t end with the Canadiens, after a brief stint with San Jose, Craig Rivet’s leadership quality saw him a natural fit at the time with Lindy Ruff’s Sabre squad as captain.

‘’ It was a surprise pick for some fans, he was new to the organization and with Luongo named Canucks captain at the time, they were expecting Ryan Miller to be the guy ‘’

Easy to say it hasn’t been an easy ride for the aging Rivet as observers see his career winding down, a brash of injuries in recent years have made him an expendable part of the team on the ice and Sabres management will mull trade options prior to deadline day if you are to believe the rumors following a Sabres team some have say is seriously underachieving this year.

Interestingly enough Craig Rivet’s ascension to the NHL was similar to PK Subban’s if you look at Junior career highs. Rivet although now considered by many as a defensive defenceman topped 75 points ( 19 goals and 55 assists ) with Kingston in the OHL while PK Subban had a junior career high 76 points ( 14 goals and 62 assists ) with Belleville.

Rivet would be called up due to injury at the start of the 1995 season ( a 3-2 loss to Boston ) to save the Canadiens catastrophic season start.

A start that would end Jacques Demers’s reign with the Habs and inevitably a miserable decade for the Canadiens.

At the start of the 1996 season the Canadiens had 3 defenceman aged under 22 in their lineup.

Craig Rivet, David Wilkie and Rory Fitzpatrick.

This year Weber and Subban are the ‘’under 23 ‘’ Habs rookies on Defence, a first since 1996 .

Rivet who was asked if he has a message for Subban on the night prior to facing him said :

‘’ Change your ways ‘’

For many Habs fans the message will sound more like

‘’ Please stay the same ‘’

Festerling

Looking at a looming 2004 NHL entry draft, Brett Festerling had a few decisions to make.

After an injury riddled season that had seen him miss 17 games due to a wrist injury, he had a feeling that he could do better than a spot at 153 on the Central Scouting Bureau list.

A WHL GM at the time mentioned :

'' He was one of those leadership guys who made a good team great, he had decent size and grit ''

Inevitably he opted out and decided that he'd have a better chance next year.

The 2005 season saw Festerling put up career highs in points with Vancouver of the WHL, but the 2005 draft came and went and despite a few inquiries from teams, his name wasn't called up.

'' It was a disappointment, we had a few teams looking but no invitations ''

The call eventually came from Brian Burke, after a discussion with Vancouver Giants GM Scott Bonner,   The Ducks decided to have a closer look at Festerling during their 2005 training camp.

Festerling's conditioning and commitment were enough for the Ducks to decide they had an NHL quality prospect on the ice.

After a 2006 season that would see his junior team win the President's cup and a great Memorial cup run,  he would wear the C in 2007 for the Giants before making the jump to the AHL for the Portland Pirates in 2008.

When Beauchemin went down with an injury during the 2008 season, the Ducks didn't have to look too far to find a replacement by Niedermayer's side.

Festerling made his pro debut on the Duck's first pairing. And the hard hitting defenceman quickly made his mark, notably on a hit that some say ended Jeremy Roenick's career.

The Ducks resigned Festerling the following summer to a 2 year contract and with Beauchemin leaving the team started the season with Festerling and Neidermayer paired up again while Boynton and Whitney shared the second pairing, Wisniewski and Brookbank on the third.

He would play 40 games in both 2008 and 2009. with the team seeing over 20 different Defencemen don a Duck Jersey due to injuries and losses to free agency.

A broadcaster would say :

'' He just couldn't secure a spot, these weren't very stable squads, the team was expecting him to be a more fluid player offensively, and they had a few guys looming large on their radar. Anaheim was aiming at a D-Core that could contribute offensively with more regularity ''

Following their 2010 training camp, the Ducks made Festerling go through waivers in a move experts saw as a sign Cam Fowler was NHL ready.

'' Festerling needed to be paired with a guy like Niedermayer to be effective on that team,  when he retired it meant it would be hard to find a pairing he'd fit in, the team's philosophy was to play defence by committee.  ''

Then came the trade.

The media reports from Anaheim around last nights trade.

'' If Montreal is looking to this kid as security in case they lose Gorges to injury long term, it's a good trade for both teams ''

Brett's twin brother Garrett ( not identical ) played for Regina of the WHL, he's currently playing in Europe.

Brett Festerling is an RFA come year end.

So is Josh Gorges.

Could this be a leverage move for the Canadiens ?