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Mesdames et messieurs, ladies and gentlemen: Accueuillons nos Canadiens!
posted by Mike Boone at 0h47 EST on Jul 2
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About Mike Boone
Full Name
Mike Boone
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http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/columnists/mike_boone.html
About
I grew up in Park Extension, within walking distance of Dickie Moore's Dairy Queen on Jean Talon. Moore had a place on L'Acadie Blvd., and we used to see him driving around in his convertible with a Samoyed and a very dishy wife.
While "studying" at McGill University during the 1960s, I used to attend games at the old Montreal Forum. My fellow undergraduate reprobates and I would scramble up the stairs to get centre-ice spots in the top standing room section, where aged ushers didn't know or care what we were smoking.
I stood out in the cold for six hours to get tickets to the 1975 New Year's Eve game between the Canadiens and Central Red Army. With the exception of the birth of my daughter, the 3-3 tie was the greatest event I've ever seen in my life.
The Canada-U.S. Gold medal game comes close .... but I wasn't there.
I've been a professional journalist since 1974, when I joined the Montreal Star sports department. I've covered the 1976 Olympic Games, the 1979 Expos, pop music and MSO tours of Europe and Asia (classical musicians are WAY more fun to drink with than athletes). I wrote a TV & Radio column for 20 years and, since 2000, have written a City column for The Gazette.
The best part of being a Habs Inside/Out contributor is attending games at the Bell Centre. I think it's a great building: noisy, raucous and packed to the rafters with Montrealers and visitors who live for hockey.
And I still get goosebumps every time Michel Lacroix booms out "Accueillons nos Canadiens ..."
Having seen the Boston Red Sox win two World Series and the Pittsburgh Steelers add a couple Super Bowl titles, I suppose I can die happy ... but not before another Stanley Cup parade. And I'd really like my daughter to see a historic New Year's Eve game.
I like all the players. Covering baseball gives me a profound appreciation of pro athletes who aren't jerks.
My weltanschauung was summarized by the late great Bill Hicks when he said "all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream and we are the imagination of ourselves."
Have a nice day.
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is there a specific reason people can't get over the fact that halak is gone and just support Price who is the habs goalie and last time i checked as a fan of a team, you support the team
There seems to be an undo stress on goaltending among many posts. I think of Philly who went through a pile of goalies last season and still made the finals. As for the finals there were no miracles like Bernie Parent or Ken Dryden happening. Good teams need good goalies not super goalie. As for super goalie even he stinks sometimes.
Who is our goal scoring all star? aka GO TO GUY
Who is our playmaking phenom? aka NUMBER #2
Who is our forward muscle, the guy that will excel vs Phili & Boston? aka ROLE MODEL
Who is our protection? aka THE ENFORCER
Who is our defensive wall? aka MR. NORRIS
Who is our offensive Dman? aka POINT SPECIALIST
Who is our Vezina? aka THE NUMBER #1
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Have we filled all this roles this summer? If not, PG certainly isn't done...
Who is our goal scoring all star? Cammy + Gio
Who is our playmaking phenom? Gomez + Pleks
Who is our forward muscle, the guy that will excel vs Phili & Boston? Pouliot, if he plays like he can
Who is our protection? Moen, sadly
Who is our defensive wall? Gorges
Who is our offensive Dman? Markov/Subban
Who is our Vezina? Price. Price is the number 1 goalie on most of the teams in the NHL right now.
IMO, the biggest gap for me is a power forward. I'd say trade AK and Pouliot for someone like Backes and bring up trotter to fill the hole left over.
Go Habs Go!
I think the management wants to see what they can get out of AK without family distractions and BP with better conditioning. They're waiting to see what these assets deliver before giving up on them entirely, which makes sense. When Benny drove the net, goals happened and Andrei has a freight-train check when he uses it and a laser of a wrist shot. Granted this doesn't work we'll have a hole at forward but there are no guarantees to any NHL season.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu. http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
This season's going to be interesting developmentally, that's for sure.
With Eller (6'1") and now Avtsin (6'3") coming up next year, if not this season, and Leblanc (6'1"), Enqvist (6'2"), and Palushaj (6'1") coming up in seasons after that, we are definitely not going to be a small team anymore in the near future.
Go Habs Go!
Aaron Palushaj is 5'11" and Engqvist is 6'4" actually.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu. http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
I'll swear that a guy could be 5'11" and 7' wide, and he'd be considered small on this site, but 6'1" would be good even if he weighed 139 lbs. Not saying you, just a general observation that I'm plopping in at this point. Where it will likely never be read. Such is life. :)
hmm.
Well, I got the combined totals right, so it's a moral victory, yes? Good.
Go Habs Go!
Doesn't Roman Hamrlik turn 76 this summer???
We need a top 4 Dman!
When I see the lineup (proposed) in writing like this I tend to relax a bit. Not a bad list really and we know what to expect from most of the players for a change. Not as many question marks as a year ago.
When I looked at it last year at this time I was totally confused, not just a little concerned and certainly not ready to make any predictions. I was of the "let's-give-it-25-games-to-gel" crowd and even then this team never grabbed my attention fully until March. Sure, throughout the year they showed an amazing ability to never give up no matter how outclassed, outplayed or outscored they were. But in the end they were just what many of us said last summer; a bubble team.
This team excites me, maybe more than any Habs incarnation over the past 5 years. Not just because of the roster as it stands today but also for the potential we have for a few more trades and upgrades throughout the season. Because of that I don't give this team a so-called gel period. It should be fairly evident within the first week or so just what we've got and just what we'll need to be better.
PS...Jazz Fest every night, checking this site by day, I'm having a fun week. More tonight and Keith Jarrett tomorrow :) Get out there and enjoy it this weekend!
FREE TIMO!
Anyone notice our cap situation next year? we will have something like 30 million free up with a bunch of ufas and rfas. I personally think we are iin a great position right now. We get to have some confirmation on who of the core was the real deal or a one time spark, then we can adjust our team accordingly, and will have lots of wiggle room with who we want to get in here. We will have a solid idea of the core, likely to be composed of the automatic returnees like cammi, gomez, pleks, gionta, price, pk, moen, spacek, and likely eller, then we can add or subtract who we want based on their play. I envision lots of good things for next season and subsequent seasons. plus next years UFA list is pretty long and deep.
Habs are looking good into the future!
And on the side, anyone who says carey price hasnt proven anything, this is only partly true. No, in the respect that he hasnt won a cup, or many series, and posted a bad record last year. But you will say yes he has if you actually watched him play last season. He played INCREDIBLE hockey for most of the year. even in losing efforts he blew me away. The kid is a sick goalie, and he will show you all this next year. i am certain of it. Talk all you want about bad goals or deflating goals. those come and go iwth any goalie. anyhow.. GO HABS
Ellis and Boyd should start off on the fourth line and see how good they are, then fix up with the third line for a good balance.
I feel down to see Metropolit go; he may not be faster or stronger or even great on the skills like the young guns, but I would like if Metro could at least have a job in the Habs organization, or if retired he would be welcome back to us 'cause he has quite the heart and passion.
I wonder if Markov comes back during the season, would it be possible to see Subban as fourth-line forward?
I really hope they do not put P.K. Subban up front. Why put a player who has at least 10 years experience playing defense at an unfamiliar forward position. The rest of your post, I agree with.
Souray on waivers, we should consider getting him if he's available on re-entry -- 2.75 a year for him is not bad.
Sidhu - Sorry, but the Habs are officially broke. No salary cap for you!
The sad part is that Edmonton's move will make it all the more difficult to do the same thing with Hamrlik. "Beat You To The Punch" (Mary Wells)
Medium crab bisque?
As PG said, if you want, you can create cap room :)
But in any case, the Oil reportedly are not going to let Souray go on re-entry waivers, so there's no way we can get him at half-price. He has two years left on his contract.
Great reply. Enjoy your summer weekend.
Steve
How many years does he have left? I don't mind having him as a short term solution because we desperatly offense at the blue line but I don't want to be stuck with this contract for more than a year.
I just love it in football where you get credit for the goal if you score in your own net.
They asked one specialist if he thought Brasil losing meant the coach would be fired and he replied:
The short answer is yes
And the long answer is yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees
Ok this is ridiculous. You Halak fans are blinded by your bitterness. Have all of you forgotten that halfway through the year price went on a ridiculous run where he had a save pct. of like 0.935 over 20 or so games? Guess what! IT ENDED! So will Halak's! Price is a VERY capable goalie. Not saying he's in the top 5 starters in the league, but he's definitely not bottom 15 either.
Go Habs Go!
It's interesting so many forget that Halak had a large losing record going into the playoffs - to the point where even supporters asked for Price to start. The moral? Streaks happen. Halak SHOULD be praised for the godly performance but let's step back a bit and realize wins/losses are more than just the goaltender.
To clarify; Halak had a losing streak going into the playoffs, not a losing record. He has never had a losing record in the NHL.
I much prefered the team with Ellis as the backup. The only depth we had last year was in net and now it's gone.
This has the look of a transitionnal year before our cap situation gets better. The only way we make the playoffs is if Pouliot and Kostitsyn plays up to their potential.
What was the team's record for those two days that Ellis was the backup? C'mon, can we get over the hyperbole?
Scotty Bowman said it best: "Don't trade Carey Price."
Hyperbole? On HI/O? What are you talking about?
;)
i don't see how this team differs from picking 20 names from a hat. it's a random assortment. ownership could fire all their scouting, gm's and administrative personnel, use central scouting rankings for all their draft picks and end up with a similar team and performance.
where is the value add from anyone in the organization? are there any bargain contracts? hidden gems? or is this what anyone could achieve with a few basic guidelines? i challenge everyone to show me who within the organization excels at player selection, development or signing. prove it using some kind of benchmark relative to peers. i think when you try, you will realize that this organization brings zero to the table.
Markov isn't scheduled to return for the start of the season?
Why does the spazzing goalie in your avatar's mask come off when he raises his arms?
Go Habs Go!
CL, i would assume either you are +35 or under 20 years of age to ask a question like this or to refer to the Spazzing goalie as a ... spazzing goalie!? that good sir, is the goalie of one of the best Nintendo games i have played.. Blades of Steel!
Not the most accurate but it was a hell of a good time! after a scrap the ref would drag you to the box!
If I remember right: (1) the doctors said November; (2) Markov said he hopes the start of the season; (3) PG said Markov is a fast healer.
Pick whom you want to believe. Personally I go with the guys with 9 years of schooling and many more years of experience, until proven otherwise
I agree with Boone. Decent lineup. With potential to be great. Can't ask for more than that. There are always question marks.. GO HABS
Mr. Boone. The team is nice to watch ..making those quick passes and sweet plays. i hope we improve our 5 on 5 play which was bad last year....remember those 50 shot games, i can see Price shaking his head as we struggle to get the puck out of our end. I also wanted to see the team get tougher to play against a little nasty. Being tossed around is freakin frustrating. I really hope PG makes more changes. Just because we have a cap does not mean the line-up cannot be adjusted further.
Goaltending problem. Huge goaltending problem.
I'm fine with CP being the go-to guy.
Goalies in Montreal have two roles, netminder and scapegoat.
Care to elaborate?
I'd say goaltending question mark rather than problem, but it is clear that we don't have a proven #1 NHL goalie. We have a good prospect that still hasn't proven he can carry the load. I don't know how anyone can dispute it. You can be optimistic or pessimistic, but that doesn't erase the basic fact that we have a question mark about our goaltending situation.
What need is there to elaborate. Price has not proven himself yet to be a game stopper. The hype exists, but I haven't seen it. Of course, they had a game stpper in Halak but we know how that story ended.......
Price hasn't proven himself in any way and can be a bit of a head case in the face of challenge. Challenge will come, and won't be helped by fans who are restless and annoyed by Halak trade. Auld is a journeyman who has poor past stats and I'm unsure why he's in the league at all. I think Halak's performance got us into the playoffs this year and I'm not sure why this tandem will be able to keep goals out of the net to permit our team to compete. . . and we have a slim margin for error because we don't score a lot to begin with.
On top of all that, we now have to pay Price whatever he wants. . . totally lost our leverage when we dealt Halak without a deal in place and now don't have a credible back-up to frighten him into not signing. The deal will be richer than it should have been/needed to be. I think our goaltending tandem went from top 5 or 6 to bottom 5 or 6.
so you give no credit to any other players except Halak..i could have sworn this is team game.
I could have envisioned someone would say that and apologize for not expanding on my post in an effort to prophylax against it. If you read what I said, it says nothing of what has been assigned to it and my point was not to talk about Halak but to outline our current lack of leverage, but I'll ignore that and expand upon my thoughts and your question (assuming for a moment that in a netherworld it was asked in earnest).
I am aware that it's a team game. However, that does not mean that the goaltending position isn't particularly important. In that context, it's fairly simple by reviewing the records of the two concerned parties last year in terms of wins/losses that when one played the results were better. That need not incriminate Price - it could have been the teams he played, the effort put forth in front of him, or some other factor - but the results of that formula, whatever its constituent components, resulted in a better outcome when Halak was in net.
My perspective was that Halak did indeed outplay Price and provided the last line of defense in a more effective manner. That's what my eyes told me, but I could be wrong or biased. My other sense was that Price let in more deflating goals.
Independent of whether those are accurate perceptions, however, the most objective measure is to just look look at the results. The team won more games and more important games when Halak was in nets (26-13-5 versus 13-20-5), and did so against all manner of opponents despite protests that Price played the more difficult games. Does that mean this would have played out again next year? I am not sure and it's irrelevant because Mr. Halak is a Blue. My concern is the extrapolation of Price's and Auld's numbers: they point to a significantly under .500 record next year whether that's because of lack of talent, lack of team effort, or some astrological explanation. I certainly hope Price steps up but I have seen no reason other than reference to an increasingly distant, mostly non-NHL past resume to believe that will be the case. The recent history is unstable with gusts towards terrifying. Others can assign that to him "not being the clear #1", "still being 22", or some other reason - I think that's guesswork but could end up holding water. I certainly hope it does. However, I see no reason for rational optimism; the best I can come up with "we'll see" or "that's why they play the games" or some such cliche.
If Price is unable to return to form, to the extent that top form reallly ever objectively existed versus a simple trend early in his career suggesting that he might some day exhibit this, then we have Auld. He of 8 teams since 2006 and largely subpar results and personal statistics. Yes it's a team game, but two of those team members are your #1 goalie and a capable back-up. In those positions, I see reasons for concern, which was the nidus for my initial post.
Doug. i am of 2 minds. Prices maturity level..i guess we will find out and the team in front of him. Of course we all point to the last line of defense and if does not work we signal out the keeper .Price does have the technical and physical attributes but not sure whats between the ears. I lean towards what is in front of the keeper. We were woeful on 5 on 5 last season and until that is corrected i see Price and Auld under fire more of the same. Of course injuries did play into the 5 on 5 thing. I just don't think its all Prices doing when he played in games last year....its a bigger picture thing for me.
Boone, do you ever sleep?
He's short, he's bald and only sleeps when he is told.
Just back from the jazz fest and buzzing on John Zorn, the Sidney Crosby of modern music.
Sidney Crosby? Man, you are selling him cheap.
John Zorn is more like the KLM five of modern music. He can beat you in so many ways; as easily with graze and elegance of improvised tick-tack-toe plays as with a thunderous hit you will be feeling in your gonads for weeks. Personally I dig everything from Masada to Naked City and would kill to see the latter live.
Um where have you been all day? Didn't you live blog July 1 last year? I was almost getting worried!!
Bring the Cup home Boys (Next Year)! I Will Always Believe
Live-blogged using a different frmat on the main site. An experiment.
So if another musician is annoying him he dives and claims the other guy tripped him?
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu. http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
Ah well, lucky you. The non-jazz fest jazz band I heard here tonight was the... let's say, Dominic Moore of music, bit of skill, heart, but definitely third line (+ was that the show with Lou Reed?).
No, it was the Masada show, electric and acoustic. Absolutely mind-blowing.
Is it October yet?
Can't wait!
/\\ike
GO HABS GO!
The way I see it, much of the season will depend on Pouliot and Ak46. If they show that they can score consistently, and don't take nights off (Andrei, I'm looking at you), then this team is pretty solid. If not... things could get ugly.
I agree, but will add one more player.
Much of the season will depend on Pouliot, AK46 and Carey Price.
Just what I was thinking.
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