Q&A With NHL Insider Darren Kendrey

I heard about Darren, and listened to him on a couple of hockey radio shows on the west coast. I loved his straight forward approach and analysis on the progress allot of teams have made over the first quarter of the season, I sent him an email and he kindly agreed to take my questions in a Q&A format

Q – Darren, who emerges from the west as quiet and under-rated so far ?

A – Watch out for Colombus, San Jose and the St. Louis Blues, I know the east gets allot of noise on Detroit, Chicago, Vancouver and Dallas but not allot of people are talking about what guys like Rick Nash (Clb) and Paul Kariya (Stl) are doing in the west.

Q - Have you been watching any of the eastern conference teams ? Any favorites ?
A – I love teams that have a dramatic atmosphere around them, teams that have great elements that are the life … well and the death of that team when they don’t show up, Tampa has been a blast to watch through their ups and downs, I like watching Toronto and Pittsburgh as well.

Q - How does the northeast look for you and how do these teams compare to any teams in the west ?

A - Ottawa has the ability to take it all this year, but I think we're starting to realize that without Daniel Alfredson, it's a team that depends on Spezza who I compare allot to Alex Kovalev in his prime and Danny Heatley who is a tempermental scorer. This team is in trouble as the other lines take advantage of that pep produced by line 1 to drive games home.

Toronto has an incredible game breaker in Mats Sundin but is starting to look allot like the New York Yankees, older guys who are trying their best

Buffalo looks good but I think that team still has a persona to build and I'm hoping a Tim Connolly finds a groove and profile in this league, I'll go as far as saying Tim Connolly can be allot like Jason Spezza when all cylinders are clicking.

Montreal is a team that keeps teasing you but always ends up dissapointing, I feel that they could have made the Cup Finals that year when Koivu came back from Cancer, they were a better team than the Canes. But it's a team that loses itself in it's identity, I look at players like Higgins and Latendresse, they still can't figure what kind of game the team wants from them.
good coaching gives you that plus.

Q - What would a team like Montreal need to be a mainstay top team ?

A - Allot, give those guys stable goaltending, give them consistent scoring, give them smart players and dangerous snipers, they have good guys coming up but a team can't make the Stanley cup finals with six fifty point guys, you need an impact guy.

As October Ends ...

Habs 3 Stars for October

1 - Alex Kovalev
2 - Cristobal Huet
3 - Roman Hamrlik

What do you guys think ?

The Saint Symphonic Streets player

Exhibition so far, Who we think is underrated

So it's easy to look at the last 4 games and point the finger at Carey Price, Ryan O'byrne and Andrei Kostitsyn being the standout guys in exhibition.
But the bottom line for me on all 3 guys is, will they rot on the stands ? will they play enough games and will they have their chance to shine on the proper spots. If Guy is honnestly thinking that playing Kostitsyn with Begin and Kostopoulos will be enough to evaluate his potential '' NHL'ishness '' he is sorely mistaking and I hope the same goes for Ryan O'byrne, we've had enough Ron Hainsey's and Francois Beauchemin go on to be top 3 guys on other teams to get a clear idea the '' Brains '' on this team have no clue how to evaluate D-men.
I am actually not the only hockey person to think this, talking to the '' always talkative '' Francois Gagnon from La Presse, and looking at the poor performance the Habs D-men delivered last year on defensive coverage, one can't help but wonder
What in heavens are the Habs waiting for ?
Give our D a coach, we're talking about 9 GUYS in camp playing D, we have a coach entirely dedicated to our goalies, 3 GOALIES
I was told something pretty interesting on the D-front as well.
Is Timmins drafting this year and last year damage control for Bob Gainey's inability to retain and properly evaluate the Defensive needs and cohesion on this team ?
Who knows ... I'm just a blogger, your just a reader, and Bob Gainey is a Stanley Cup winning GM-Captain etc ... etc ...
But results speak for themselves, as far as I can say this camp on D has been allot of noise on Ryan O'byrne's progression, nice hipchecks and more comparisons to Mike Komisarek than you can shake a stick at, but I won't play that game with you ...
I won't jump on the O'byrne band wagon because I've honnestly never seen so much over-hyping in my life ! Am I saying O'byrne is a bad Defenceman ? Nope ! he'll probably go on to have a pretty good career in the NHL playing solid on his end and not being a liability for his team. But I can't help feeling that guys like Josh Gorges, Pavel Valentenko and Jamie Rivers have gotten the Yann Danis treatment over the Habs Brass being too busy chest thumping Ryan O'byrne's progression.
Josh Gorges in particular has been surprising and largely efficient no matter who he has been paired with in camp, Valentenko has been physical and solid and Jamie Rivers as far as I'm concerned has had a great camp along with Mark Streit who has been dominant.

On forward ( and on forward indeed ) we have finally seen the kids the Habs have been blabbing on about all summer and three of them have been absolutely exalting to watch, Thomas Beauregard, Matt D'Agostini and Sergei Kostitsyn.
Beauregard is a pint sized goalscorer who has managed to make me forget about Corey Locke's exemplary play early on in camp, one feels Beauregard although he is quite young already has the offensive maturity and nose for the net to be a good NHL player, his overall game is clearly lacking in physical strength and what some Habs coaches are calling '' All around zone coverage ''

Ok I have a problem with this ... Some players are good all around players, we all know them, they usually score around 40 points a year and are usefull, but enough with the friggin allusions to all around play,

Beauregard, S.Kostitsyn, A.Kostitsyn, Kovalev, Locke etc ... etc ... will NEVER be all around players, they are offensive guys and someone in the organization needs to remember you don't win a cup with a team full of Carbonneaus and Gaineys, EVEN the Devils need a Petr Sykora, Scott Gomez and a Patrick Elias.

It isn't because they can't play D, that they don't deserve to be NHL players.

Matt D'Agostini has been great in camp, and he should start the year in Montreal although I feel bad the Habs can't ice a fifth trio because you can't help feel that you'd find D'Agostini and S.Kostitsyn on it.

The Goalie situation :

There is no situation, Huet will start in Montreal due to Halak and Price forgetting they are supposed to stand on their head to get a shot at the starting job !

Rookie Training Camp - Who is looking good in Pierrefond ?

So after a couple of days at the rink and another couple of days talking to players on MSN and outside the rink here is my report on the Top 3 players in Camp so far !

1 - Carey Price : it's easy to see the mark of a dominant goalie on the ice, there are characteristics that don't lie, when José Theodore attended his first training camps in the late 90's you could see a fast goalie, maybe a bit small, but with definite template indicators when it came to his potential as well as shortcomings, José Theodore and Carey Price have VERY little in common and that much is apparent when you sit down at camp and watch this kid go, the first thing that is telling is the sheer mass of the individual, I'm 6'4 and standing next to him on skates, Carey almost looks 6'6, which brings back bad memories of other huge format goaltenders ( anyone remember Garth Snow ? ). What makes Price just ridiculously well packaged is the combination of lightning reflexes, EXTREMELY well honed rebound control skills and Stick-work, Carey Price has allot of promising markers that seem tailor made for dominating the NHL, will he deliver that promise ? only time, patience and goaltending will answer that.
So far in camp Carey has been benchmarked against Loic Lacasse and particularly Cedric Desjardins who has kept Roland Melanson busy, Carey and Loic have a healthy competition going, they are both big kids but the main difference as it stands now is largely between the ears, Loic looks discouraged at times and gives up on shots too easily, doesn't respond to speed well either, but don't dismiss Loic as a lost cause, it's easy to see the progress in this guy ! As for Price, the rest of camp will tell on his overall preparedness and quickness.

Glove hand ++++
Blocker ++++
Puck Control +++++
Pad Speed +++++
Drop Recovery ++++
Anticipation ++++

in comparison Loic Lacasse would rate as such

Glove hand +++
Blocker ++++
Puck Control +++
Pad Speed +++
Drop Recovery ++++
Anticipation +++

2 - Kyle Chipchura : Kyle Chipchura is BIG, he has the charisma that makes guys captains and has an on ice strut that shows someone in control and well aware of his job come crunch time, this rookie camp is a bit of an oddity for him as he isn't generally the kind of player that is formated for on ice drills, this was evident durin stickhandling drills. Neverrtheless he didn't have a bit of trouble with any of them and showed exemplary fitness and stamina throughout the sessions, Kyle made a couple of guys look lazy too, Ben Maxwell and Ryan White haven't been too high on my radar this camp, D'Agostini and Chipchura look like NHL'ers even though none are projected to score more than a dozen goals and definitly look like your '' 40 point '' guy, it is quite telling when Maxwell especially looks outworked by those guys.


Offensive projection +++
Defensive projection +++++
Puck Control ++++
Speed +++
Stamina - Strength +++++
Creativity +++
Passing ++++
Slapshot +++
Wristshot ++++
Response to coaching +++++

in comparison Ben Maxwell would rate as such

Offensive projection ++++
Defensive projection +++
Puck Control +++
Speed ++++
Stamina - Strength +++
Creativity +++
Passing +++
Slapshot +++
Wristshot ++++
Response to coaching ++

2 - Janne Lahti : Janne is BIG, quite BIG, and if his mobility, obvious nose for the net and speed hasn't sold you on him, well ... you haven't been watching him play ... BUT let us not forget, for now he is skating with kids and it isn't as hard as tht for this veteran of the SM Liiga to stand out, but that doesn't minimize what he is doing at all, in camp are core members of Hamilton's championship team and if we are to evaluate the AHL as being at a better level than the Liiga, than what Lahti is doing in camp is absolutely great so far, you can't help to love the hussle this guy has, at times reminded me of a Andrei Kostitsyn with a little less skill and allot more hussle, but also made me realize a couple f things about Andrei Kostitsyn ( even though he isn't part of this camp ) I've watched rookies now for the past 5 years, I've seen guys like Higgins in camp, I've seen Plekanec all the way to Josef Balej and Hainsey strut their stuff for the coaching stuff and what I can tell you is that our current core would DESTROY these guys in camp, put our training camp of 2000 lineup vs these kids, and it would be a 12 - 2 game ( with Riberio probably assisting on 2 goals for a losing effort ). Janne Lahti is a very talented player, but if in the NHL Lahti is a 50 point guy, Kostitsyn should definitly be a 90 point guy, well at least thats the impression I get comparing my memory of these 2 guys from last years camp and this year. Kostitsyn would be your Elias type player in camp, Lahti reminds you of that player who plays a rough and tumble game managing to notch 40 - 50 points ...

Offensive projection ++++
Defensive projection +++
Puck Control +++
Speed +++
Stamina - Strength +++++
Creativity ++++
Passing ++++
Slapshot ++++
Wristshot ++++
Response to coaching ++++

in comparison Sergei Kostitsyn would rate as such

Offensive projection +++++
Defensive projection +++
Puck Control +++++
Speed ++++
Stamina - Strength +++
Creativity ++++
Passing ++++
Slapshot +++
Wristshot +++++
Response to coaching ++++

Other Notables : Ryan O'byrne, Valetenko, Fortier, D'Agostini

Pacioretty & Mcdonagh VS Esposito and Veilleux

I exchanged e-mails with Penguins Blogger Manny K. he followed the Pens developmental camp and I used his stuff to compare a bit what our guys looked like in Camp compared to the Penguins guys

Angelo Esposito & Veilleux :


Week of the 25 of June

Manny K says : Yes it's a conditioning stint ... but Angelo is an exciting player to watch, the first thing that makes my day on this kid is his speed, he looks like a tap dancers on some of these drills : Stops and gears up like a Porsche out there, and like a Porsche he knows how to get the rubber from point A to point B flawlessly. Anyone who had doubts on his vision and creativity should be biting down on their lips, Angelo was clearly the best guy on the ice throughout camp and in my opinion won't look out of place in full camp untill .!.!.!
Untill the drills got a bit physical, and this is when I started worrying : Put the puck in the corner and Angelo is one of those guys standing behind the battle, get in the action, get in the moshpit !!! this is the NHL ! Yeah .. Angelo is a Porsche ... but when the road gets bumpy he isn't a Cayenne ... he's still a 911.
Keven Veilleux is a different puppy altogether, not as fast on his skates as Esposito, can definitly pass and be at the right place at the right time, he's a big guy with great vision, loved his communication on the ice, but I guess I expect a big guy to be physical and he isn't that guy, I think he doesn't realize it yet, and he'll need to learn to be a tough customer to survive in this league, he'll need to learn how to hurry up back to his zone as well, if Esposito is a 911, Veilleux is more like Sabre Dainius Zubrus, whatever car Zubrus is lol !

In my judgment we'll have plenty of space for Espo in the lineup this year, put him on a line with Roberts and he'll have the guys to fetch it out of the corner for him, can't wait to see him in camp ! Veilleux needs to improve on his NHL'ness if you know what I mean but is definitly going to be a dangerous forward !


What Roen Weiss thunks :



We all knew what the knock on Espo was, sometimes .. well. .. sometimes he doesn't show up, he didn't have a great year without Radu ( as he admitted in my interview with him pre-draft )
and to be quite frank sometimes he forgot you have 5 players on the ice you can pass it to .

Nevertheless Manny has confirmed what we all knew about him ... but then again the Pens end up with 2 skilled guys who don't fancy roughing it up ...

On the other hands the Habs shored up on excellent and flexible 2 way talent, who funny enough might end up being the worst nightmare guys like Veilleux and Esposito to face.

Here is what central scouting has to say about Mcdonagh :

Central Scouting Report: A skilled
offensive defenseman with the skill to rush
the puck... has good first step quickness and makes quick
accurate passes in the defensive zone... has a good shot from the
point... strong along the boards as well as one-on-one in the
corners... has the ability to dominate a game, but needs to play to
his level every night... his offensive style sometimes leads to risky
decisions.

Notice what I highlighted ... and what Manny said about Espo

Now look at Pacioretty !

This is what the Flyers Chris Pryor had to say about him prior to the draft :

“Max Pacioretty is a good-sized kid, who works extremely hard. He’s plays up and down the ice and has a little edge to him. He moves really well and has decent hands.”
– Director of Hockey Operations Chris Pryor

What was the knock on Veilleux ? the way Manny put it, is especially telling about Keven's intensity.

Michel Bergeron had a comment on 110 % following the Habs draft :

'' Pittsburgh a dévalisé le Canadien ''

The way I see it, we avoided a Proto-Ribeiro-Chouinard draft, the future will prove us wrong or right.

But as far as I'm concerned, Timmins gets an A

All the way !

A couple of words from the Subbanator

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Interview with Olivier Fortier

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Q&A with Ryan Mcdonagh

Fat '' stick '' Lady got in the way of audio quality. Here it is transcribed !

Q - Ryan any essentials the coaching staff asked you to keep an eye on ?

A - Always improving stuff like skating, stick handling and positioning, going from high school to a camp with guys who are pretty much full time on allot of this time definitely opens your eyes to what you tend to do right or wrong.

Q - Trevor and a couple of other observers say that some aspects of your game already look NHL ready while others still need a bit of polishing, anything in particular you think will be the focus of your training this year ?

A - Meeting the staff here, It was a relief to hear that there isn't one aspect in particular that I'm going to have to focus on, just raising the level on allot of stuff, making sure I can compete and get my game to the next level.

Q - Any chance on you getting a couple of french classes in this fall ?

A - ( laughing ) Oui ... for sure !


Q - How is the freshman year shaping out to be ? looking forward to a new environment ?

A - There is going to be allot of competition and allot of guys with allot to prove, I hope I can make my way into being a go to guy as soon as possible !

Q&A with David Fischer

Interviewed during the development camp.
Fat '' stick '' lady got in the way of my recording quality so I transcribed it

Q - David any essentials the Habs told you to keep an eye on ?

A - Definitely allot of all around stuff like conditioning, but my shot especially ( laughing ) definitely my shot !

Q - Your skating and overall stamina has been impressive and a definite improvement this camp, any chance we'll see you rough some guys up ?

A - ( Laughing ) yeah I need to put on some pounds and start making alot of these guys look Bad !

Q - What are you looking foward to going back to university in fall ?

A - A national championship, hopefully as soon as possible, this year is going to be crucial for us and they expect allot of guys, me included to stand up in the room and on the ice.

Q - A little more ice time maybe ?

A - ( laughing ) Allot more hopefully !

Loic Lacasse

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Max Pacioretty

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PK Subban Evaluation

Training Camp Report & Evaluations : Montreal Canadiens

Rookie Camp Report - SOON to come as well - Loic Lacasse and J.T Wyman who both had pretty good camps ! Sorry ... Subban doesn't make it ... CLICK ON THEM TO SEE THEM IN REAL SIZE

Q&A with Michel Guest from ISB Groupe

Michel Guest was kind enough to E-mail me back a Q&A I had sent recently, Michel has been involved with scouting NHL talent for a few European teams and has been very involved with getting NHL or AHL players such as recently departed Bulldog André Benoit the right offer to move their families to a new continent and a new hockey reality, I asked him a bit about the Emelin deal and another bunch of stuff , enjoy folks ! ( translated from french )

Q - Michel, what is the difference ( playing style, players that develop out of them ) between the different Premier European Hockey leagues ?

A - They are quite different and to an extent few people realize, playing hockey in Lauzanne ( Switzerland ), Helsinki or Stockholm and playing hockey in Moscow is a world of difference, but it doesn't just stop on style and play, it also affects the player they develop and is a testament to each program as they have had Alumni's that represent them quite well.

In Finland you have very fast players who play in a style similar to north americans when it comes to offense, it is a rugged game but far from the physical play you see in North America, it gives the players a bit more breathing room and a makes them more comfortable which is great for the offensive production, but not that brilliant for some portions of NHL play, alot of players who come from Finland have a hard time finding a good balance between a reckless physical style and good offensive delivery, when the line blurs, that is when they get hurt, and you've seen this especially from players like Saku Koivu who plays hard but was never really developed to take the punishment the NHL can be known for, I think it accounts for a good portion of his injuries , even though in later years he has found a good balance.

In Russia, I believe that the physical side is not well developed in forwards and even worst, they back off too easily from physical play, alot of people saw this when Phaneuf shut down Ovechkin at the juniors a couple of years back, the good thing is that it is a flaw that is addressed early in their development and a guy like Ovechkin benefited from his team addressing that issue which made him a much more effective player, he is not intimidated by anyone and I hope that the Rangers do the same for Cherepanov as he is in the same situation Ovechkin was by many scouts assessment, but to come back to the Russian game, Russian Defencemen on the other hand are extremely gifted when it comes to on-ice vision and Physical play, this year saw alot of young defenceman such as Anton Volchenkov and Fedor Tyutin show that Russia knows how to develop solid defencemen.

As for Sweden, the Swede game is better known for the way it is complete, it packages alot of what you see in the way Finnish players play the game but is more fine tuned and less sloppy in many aspects including the development of offensive acumen and defensive responsability, this is the league were guys like Peter Forsberg, Daniel Alfredsson, Marcus Naslund and Niklas Lidstrom were develloped, these players do many things very well as opposed to the SM- Liiga were players are better developped in specific roles. There is many concern that the Swedish Elite League is not developing players as well as before, Niklas Backstrom will be a good NHLer but many people doubt he will emerge as the same kind of player you've seen from the elite Alumni of the SEL.


Q - NHL players are getting great offers from Russian teams, a trend to come ?

A - I have had the chance to watch Russian hockey alot this year as allot of Russian teams are scouting NHL players to be more competitive, the bottom line though, is that Russian hockey is a far cry from the excitement you get at the NHL level, games are often boring and do not attract many people so unless players are completely money oriented, it is often better to make 1 million and get the quality of life from north america and play in front of 20 000 people than to make 2 million and play in front of 5 000 in Moscow.

Q - the Montreal Canadiens have lost out on Emelin as he heads back to Russia, what is the noise around that deal ?

A - It isn't pretty, and I believe his NHL team is not pleased at the fact he used them to get another agent to negotiate for him in Russia, it has made alot of noise in many circles and it is said he used the offer he had in North America to sign the contract he wanted in Russia, his agents in Canada were very surprised and I think he will have to find new representation if he ever wants to negotiate with Montreal, I know his team in NHL had some Russian players involved in this bridge as well to encourage Alex to come, he has not made many friends to say the least.

Q - André Benoit has left North America to head to Europe, what solidified his choice ?

A - André is an excellent young player who will have a very important spot with Tampere, he will be playing at an excellent level in a country were quality of life, team incentives and cost of living will be a great advantage, he will also be able to play on the larger ice surfaces and be part of an elite group of Canadian players who, if his play is good, will participate in great events such as the Spengler cup and other great games, people think European Hockey is '' small '' but they are always amazed at the ambiance and thrill of many games especially around Scandinavia and central Europe, Paul Di Pietro is having the time of his life in Europe and is being treated like a legend in Switzerland for what he has accomplished on the international stage, in North America he would never had the chance to do some of the things he did
, If I had told you after Salt Lake City were Canada won the gold, that in a couple of years Paul DiPietro would beat Canada with the swiss team, it's unthinkable.
And thats the dream alot of these players find in Europe, unthinkable success against apparent failure in North America.

Q - What do you think of the possible creation of a European NHL division within the current dynamic between the NHL and IIHF ?

A - It is an excellent concept and I think that we are starting to see early signs of the NHL tiring of the un-fruitful push into the United States, I do not know how much gas Gary Bettman has left in his tank and I guess that he will be trying to push for success there to cement his legacy once he is gone, but a new comissioner will have to push that vision further and there are lessons there to be learnt fromthe way Ecclestone handled Formula 1, Hockey has the potential to be a major sport in Europe if the NHL enters carefully and well positioned strategically, there is a possibility there for ridiculous amounts of income if this is done properly, money and sponsors are everywhere in Europe and I have heard that some sponsors such as Volkswagen group ( who own Skoda ) have made it clear that they are very interested to be part of it, it's now in the NHL's hands.

Q - Wouldn't there be salary issues and talent being further diluted ?

A - If there is more hockey presence in Europe, more talent is created, more children want to play and you expand the amount of kids seeing premier talent like Crosby and Ovechkin, you expand your talent pool right there, it will give more quality NHL players down the road, it should not be an issue and, I think quite opposite, you will have a new fan base across 20 countries watching these elite NHL players play close to home, not once every 4 years, but every year, as for the dynamics of how it is to happen, I leave that to greater minds, but it is quite exciting.

Habs brass extremely high on Ryan O'byrne

I've had the chance to briefly discuss with some of the Dogs following the Bulldog's AHL championship this year and ask around about what some guys felt the future had in store.

Alot of it, of course, depends on the evaluation Head Scout Trevor Timmins and Head Coach Guy Carbonneau can make in incorporating that young talent into the Habs lineup

Guys like Timmins keep bringing up a couple of names to watch out for in training camp this year including Jonathan Ferland, Kyle Chipchura and Ryan O'byrne.

Ryan O'byrne is a point of focus for me and he has generated alot of interest from fans who were encouraged by the hard hitting right handed defenceman's play in this year's AHL championship.

Ryan O'byrne is a tower of a man closing in on 6'6 and 230 pounds, and some scouts have dismissed the Cornell product as a Hal Gill dopellganger, but a closer look at O'byrne's development shows a great package of fast skating and well developed hockey sense.

The better known face of O'byrne's game is of course, the physical delivery of that '' package '', Ryan has shown no hesitance in delivering devastating hits and making sure there is a price to pay for offensive zone incursions.

Ryan's potential definitly hints at top 4 NHL talent with time, especially if he can settle into a 25 -30 point form at the NHL level, he is slated to develop into a hard nosed stay at home defenceman with a great first pass and an affinity for all situations.

Blog on hiatus

Due to a job offer writing in sports I've recieved in the last weeks I'm holding off on adding anything untill all the '' conflicting interest '' stuff gets sorted out ! I will post on occasion when something comes by my desk ! thanks for dropping by !

Cheers !

Roen

Why this D-Day might be a mistake by the Habs ...

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

Even though the media has quickly forgotten Bildodeau and Chouinard ( Both tremendously touted by local media )

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.

Ryan McDonagh - Post Draft - Report from Scouts, Publishers etc ... ( Coming soon )

Still compiling responses and E-mails this is gonna be HUGE, be patient guys.

4 Questions avec Kevin Veilleux

Q - Plusieurs des jeunes de ce repêchage disent qu'il faudra attendre un moment avant d’enlever ce chandail tout neuf, comment on se sent en Pingouin ?

A – C’est sur, c’est une sensation formidable, une organisation comme Pittsburgh, c’est excitant, c’est une organisation qui compte sur la jeunesse et qui a de bons jeunes bien entourés.

Q – Un premier camp avec Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Recchi, Roberts parmi d’autres, un joueur en particulier que tu vas regarder avec attention ?

A – Ben, c’est sur que regarder Sidney Crosby ça va être excitant, mais faut leur prouver que tu as quelque chose a apporter, je ne vais pas la bas pour regarder jouer, je veut faire ma place dans un avenir proche.

Q – Tu rejoins une filière de jeunes québécois avec Michel Ouellet, Maxim Talbot et tu t’ajoutes avec Angelo hier soir, a quoi est-ce que Michel Therrien peut s’attendre a voir en Septembre de ta part ?

A – Je suis un joueur qui n’a pas peur de s’impliquer, j’ai un gabarit bien adapté au style de jeu de la ligue nationale, je dois leur prouver que je peut garder le rythme, je peut jouer a n’importe quel position et le faire de manière efficace, j’espère qu’ils prendront ça en compte.

Q – Certains de tes détracteurs parlent d’un manque d’implication à certains moments, pense-tu que c’est trompeur comme analyse ?

A – Il y a des saisons difficiles, parfois des petites blessures te ralentissent ou te rendent moins efficace, il y a aussi des hauts et des bas dans une saison mais c’est fini maintenant et c’est a moi de prouver sans aucun doute que j’ai ma place dans l’alignement des pingouins le plus tot possible.

Trevor Timmins and Bob Gainey both claim they've found a '' rare pearl ''

In Today's La Presse Mathias Brunet has an interesting discussion with Gainey :

The words translate as this :

There is one player by our evaluations, that is far superior to any other in this year's draft, If we have to, we'll move up to get him.

It seems the Habs have their man ! What makes this peculiar ? Well in previous years Timmins would operate with a sheet lodging his top 5 in every position that his scouts had judged as the BAP ( best availabe player ) come their time to pick

With Timmins adding to that the '' We're going for a home-run '', you can't help but think the Habs think they know something other teams don't ...

Speculation is the Habs could be a different team after the deadline ...

More to come, just got a call returned, Alot of guys won't be sleeping tonight, People are talking to me about Brad Richards available for peanuts ... who da hell has space in their cap ????

Hicks and Gillett to team up again and a look at Tony Salmelainen

I'm waiting for a couple of Q&A's to come back and I've got some great stuff coming along, I've had an opportunity to maybe start writing for a small French Hockey magazine and they are looking at some of the stuff that I was supposed to post on the Blog ( maybe I'll make a few dineros on it, who knows ... ) So be patient with posts folks !

As early as yesterday we've learned that Tom Hicks and George Gillett are teaming up again, but we're not talking about a Sports team here, nope ... they are both Vice Chairman to the Board of Governors, what does it mean to Habs fans ?

Well the board itself rules pretty much on err .... Rule Changes, improvements to the game, Salary discussions, Team discussions ( relocation, expansion ) etc ...

What is surprising to most is the election of Jeremy Jacobs to the post of Chairman, who knew JJ was that popular among Team owners !

Well just in resume for us Habs fans here are the new rules :

- From now on faceoffs can only be taken on one of the 9 positional spots on the ice ( no more referees taking faceoffs right behind the blue line )

- If a player conducts an act of interference with intent ( or result ) to injure ( crashing on a goalie with intent for example ) the referees can kick those players out of the game instead on just giving them a minor.

- If a player breaks away from his zone and gets hooked or tripped when he has a clear opportunity for a break away, he can get a penalty shot ( it used to be reserved for offensive zone penalties )

- The term Gross misconducts is apparently errr .... GROSS, so they've decided to just call it game misconducts !


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Salmelainen is a speedy player the term '' marchand de vitesse '' applying beautifully in his case, what has plagued Salmelainen since his arrival in the league is the inability for the small Finnish Forward to ... err... well to finish pretty much anything ...

but don't sell him short ( no pun intended on his 5'9 frame ), Salmelainen has proven himself a fearless PK'er with Elite breakaway speed and even though there is doubt on his abilities to stuff the net at an elite level, he IS one of those players ( whether you look at his stats in the SM Liiga or the AHL ) that has shown a need for a period of adaptation.

One of the Hamilton Bloggers I read told me that he remembers watching Salmelainen and Marcel Hossa play in the AHL, their NHL stats look similar in some aspects and they're progression is earily similar, here is quote from him :

'' Salm had drive but no hands, Hossa had hands but no drive ''

I have heard that there is possibility that if Salmeleinen can't break through this year, Helsinki has an offer ready for him, the Habs would still retain his rights I believe.

Habs and Blue Jackets talking Chimera

A Source out of Columbus has told me that the Blue Jackets are shopping for an Experienced D-man with leadership and playoff experience as well as a young forward with good potential.

The Habs have already recieved interest from Columbus regarding Duncan Milroy and it's rumoured that the Habs are interested in Jason Chimera due to the possible ( some say inevitable ) loss of Radek Bonk and Mike Johnson who were not tendered offers to remain with the team.

Chimera is a speedy winger who has been known to be streaky scoring goals, at 6'2 he does not shy away from playing physical, he has found a home on Columbus's PK and has shown the ability of being a relentless forechecker.

Columbus would also be interested in getting the services of one of the Hab's Roster D-man and one the Hab's 1st Round Draft pick as well positioning Colombus to take Voracek and Esposito.

Although he is coming off a tough season, Bouillon who is a great skater and tough hitter, has been shown to be money come playoff time, and could be an interesting option.

My thoughts : If at the end of the day by losing Chimera the Blue Jackets come out of it with Duncan Milroy an experienced D-man and Voracek ( they pick at number 7 ) as well as another first rounder, it could definitly be an interesting trade off, but on one hand Chimera has flourished under Hitchcock and it's unlikely they'd pull the trigger that easily, as for the Habs, it's a steep price to pay for a player that hasn't blossomed into anything more than an excellent forechecker.

Although he would be a great piece for a premier team.

Panthers talking Nathan Horton, Gainey listening

I've heard alot of sources talk about Nathan Horton leading into the draft

Horton is a huge piece of what the future will look like in Florida, I am amazed at the ammount of noise going on prior to draft day regarding this RFA.
Although Horton has been quite vocal per staying in Florida since he stated in February that he wanted out, there has been reports of Jacques Martin packaging the forward to get a promising young goaltender and young scoring forward.

Some people have said the Habs are showing 2 cards called Ryder and Halak, but then again it'll be curious to see how negotiations go between Horton and Martin, Horton is an RFA !