I see that you neglected to mention the trade of the guy in your avatar, Mike.

New Jersey's like Detroit and Dallas, although it's a much more baffling case. They've been good for fifteen years and they don't seem to be faltering. Once Brodeur retires, the Devils are fucked.

What do you mean "neglected"? Heh. I'm so glad we finally traded one of our goalies and ended the controversy. The french media is insane. Price has been playing terrific for the Habs, while Huet has faltered, and he is a UFA at the end of this season and would likely walk. It makes sense to get rid of Huet, as much as I really like him as a person and his character.

Looks like the right decision too, with how well Price is playing tonight. Oh, and the Habs are killing. Je suis happy.

Peace,
Mike

Well, from reading the comments on TSN's website, I was under the impression that most Montreal fans were unhappy with the trade (and also Montreal missing out on Hossa), especially since they only got a second round pick in return.

It's true, the fact that we only got a 2nd round pick for 2009 (not even for this year) is pretty lame. I have to admit I was not happy with what we got in return, and Habs fans all around generally agree. Though I could be overstating Huet's value, as I am biased. But I can see why Huet was unloaded. I remember Gainey explaining that he really just wanted to get Huet out before the trade deadline. He had been assessing Huet the past couple weeks, and since Huet didn't show his stuff quite well enough, it was time to give the young Price and Halak goaltending duties and move Huet somewhere else, even if he had only gotten a 2nd round pick.

Hossa is completely a non-factor. I was with Gainey on that the whole time - he wanted to bring in an "impact player", but wasn't willing to ruin the current team of young talent to do so. He was consistent in that. Ultimately, he went for Hossa, but Atlanta asked for way too much. They asked for 4 players, 3 of which played tonight for the Habs. Gainey is happy enough with the team that he isn't willing to trade away those 4 players, and I'm in total agreement. That follows to the Pens as well - they gave up way too much for Hossa, in my opinion.

My ultimate point is that I'm so happy with the Habs team as a whole and our depth. The fact that we can trade Huet and still have a solid #1 goalie is a testament to that, in my mind. The prospects of having an impact player are exciting, but developing young talent is important in pushing for the cup. And I think Gainey has been doing well for years now - the Habs have had their best season yet in a while so far.

Sorry for rambling - you probably don't care about any of this. Heh.

Peace,
Mike

Yeah, I understand where you're coming from, and I agree with you (for the most part). Pittsburgh spent way too much to get Hossa, and they're gonna pay for it somewhere down the road. I'm just not sure why Montreal dealt Huet if they intend on being a contender. I know he's a UFA at the end of the year, and they didn't want to get nothing in return, but they basically got nothing anyway. I think they should have kept him for the potential playoff run. I know everyone in Montreal wants Carey Price to become the next Ken Dryden/Patrick Roy/Cam Ward, but what happens when Price stumbles in the playoffs and there's only Jaroslav Halak to relieve him? It just seems kinda silly to let the most experienced goalie on your team go when you're gearing up to make a run at the Cup, even if he is gonna walk away at the end of the year.

Whatever the case, the trade is still not as idiotic as the Hossa deal, which may go down in history as one of the most lopsided deals ever. Atlanta gets three young skilled players, all still under contract, and a first round draft pick, and Pittsburgh gets a rental player with a shoddy history in the playoffs and Pascal Dupuis. Wow.

The Red Wings KEEP losing.

They need Lidstrom back.

I agree with you about Huet and Price. I'm not entirely convinced Price is completely reliable to lead the Habs into the playoffs and so on. However, there is no doubt in my mind that he is a strong goalie. It was a gamble to release Huet, no doubt about it - even Gainey recognizes it - but I feel as if it was something that had to be done. And so far, Price isn't letting me down. It's something that I suppose we'll have to evaluate after the season is finished. Releasing Huet will ultimately be seen as a terribly lame move, or a good stroke of insight. Hopefully for my Habs it is the latter, heh.

Peace,
Mike

I hope they keep losing, myself. Heh.

I'm sorry, that's really mean of me, but I've never liked the Red Wings.

Peace,
Mike

Yep, even to my crappy team!

Speaking of which, the Oilers set a NHL record with their thirteenth shootout win of the season tonight.

Well, it's not like getting a big contract like Hossa's off at the end of the season is a bad thing, if that's any consolation for the Penguins. Though I guess expiring contracts in hockey aren't as huge and important as they are in basketball.

Not sure what you mean. The Penguins aren't paying Hossa's entire contract, just the remainder left for the rest of the season.

Ottawa fired their coach, John Paddock, today and replaced him with Bryan Murray, who was coach last year and got promoted to GM. I saw it coming, Ottawa's been in a tailspin lately.

Yes, but the effect is the same, no? I assume Christenson, Armstrong, and Esposito's combined contracts equal Hossa or close to it for the deal to work, and when the season's over, they don't have to pay anything, whereas before they would've had those three players on the books for next season. When Hossa's contract runs out, it's the equivalent of having that 5-6 mil+(I assume that's what he's getting) subtracted from your overall cap space and will give them more breathing room to set themselves up to resign Malkin at the end of next year.

I'm not sure if the rules are different in hockey, but in basketball, the portion of the season left and how much the players are actually getting paid doesn't make much of a difference, their contracts in full are still figuratively counted towards the team being "under the cap" or not.

Big game tonight for the Bruins. If they win, they have somewhat of a chance to get up into the 2-5 range rather than the 6-8 range. They wouldn't leapfrog over anyone tonight since they're five points behind the Canadiens, but to get within three of them, four behind the Sens and five behind Pittsburgh, it'd be nice. Then again, where they end up is going to be a big deal. Would it exactly be in their best interest to finish 4th or 5th so they play the Canadiens? That's worked out magically so far this year. They either have to hope the Canadiens get up to #1 (which is not a stretch anymore), or they gain a little bit of confidence when they play them again at home next month.

The nice thing though is we've got two games in hand on everyone right now (by the end of the night they'll still have two on the Penguins).

I'm also starting to think that not making a move at the deadline was probably the best move since they would've had to trade away Phil Kessell and someone else to even make a substantial move for probably just a rent-a-player. They have a shot to do something this year, but their future is looking pretty nice as well. We just need to get Bergeron back.

In hockey, I think the contracts are pro-rated, meaning the Penguins only have to pay Hossa for the rest of the season. Not for the whole season. But I guess you're right about it counting towards the cap, and I guess that makes sense for them to have more room for next year. But they lost three of their young players (and a first rounder) to do it.

Great start for Hossa.

lol

Anyone still think Pittsburgh didn't get fucked in this deal?

Nevermind, Pascal Dupuis just scored for them!

And suddenly the Eastern Conference becomes much more interesting. The Bruins are on fire right now.

Ottawa's only 7 points out of 9th...

Hahaha, they had to give up an arm and a leg for Hossa, and the first thing Hossa does is get injured! lol. And Pittsburgh gets their ass kicked in their first game with Hossa and Dupuis.

Peace,
Mike

The Oilers won another shootout last night. They're now 14-3, and they have the record for most shootout wins in a season.

Even more impressively, Garon is 10-0 in shootouts. That's also a record.

Even more impressively, he's stopped 30 of 32 shots in the shootout. That's a save percentage of .938. Next in the league is Roloson, with .800. That's insane.

Just a bright spot on our relatively bad season, but it's picking up lately. We only need to go 12-4 (or thereabouts) in our last 16 games to make it in!

One could interpret the many shootouts as a poor reflection of the Oilers, in that they can't seem to finish up a game in regulation time. Haha.

Just kidding. I'm glad for the Oilers, and would like to see them make a push for the playoffs. We need as many Canadian teams in the playoffs as possible (well, except Toronto... hehe).

Peace,
Mike

Hey, I'll take what I can get with the Oilers. A win's a win.

Toronto's only 6 points out...