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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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Might have already been posted... but hey Boone re WAGS... don't forget exHAB Czerkawski... he made the list.
I'm a little bit surprised, that people are calling other people racist on this forum...but then again, I guess I'm not really. You're the man Andrew! Don't listen to these fools!
Maybe Mel Gibson is a Habs fan. If so, we could get him to post here. It's not like he's going to be that busy for the next little while.
I know Eklund is an utter joke, and only right about .0003% of the time, but he says the Habs have the best offer on the table for Filatov. If Montreal got good ol' Nikita it might kill off half the population of HIO.
where did you read this? who's this Eklund guy.. is he a meteorologist on the side?
Just a rumor monger who runs a website. Haha meteorologists have a much higher batting average than him.
and he just creates this crap outta mid air?
whose spot would he take?
Man, just scrolled throught the last two pages and it seems like poor Andrew is in debate with everyone today. It's either that, or the HIO crew are giving him a cut of their AdSense revenues. :p
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Ya! The Habs Rule! now on Twitter!
Didn't you hear? I'm getting paid by the argument now!
i know he's on fire eh
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88 is the new 23
Got an extinguisher? I'm getting a little crispy...
Kinda like bacon, eh? (Now, that's a roundabout fat joke)
I'm glad we're all in grade 2.
at this point i would need an entire fire brigade
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88 is the new 23
Max signs - who cares. Jarred Boll signs in Columbus - 2 years - less money than Max per year - now there's a guy this team could use. I still can't believe this is the line-up Habs are going into the season with - the way it ended vs. Philly - all the injuries - the easiest line-up to play against in the league last year - can't score 5 on 5 and PG gets rid of Metro and adds exactly zero players with NHL experience...terrific.
Metro is an aging waiver wire pickup who found a spot with the habs when Maxwell and Lapierre failed to make the grade. He was never part of the long term plans. I welcomed his experience and determination as well as his ability to play mistake free hockey. I also recognized he was never going to provide anything more than competency and in pro sports just being OK isnt good enough.
To be successful teams must always be looking for the diamond in the rough, if none are sitting out in the open. Eller, Endqvist, Avtsin represent the potential star to be. If one turns out to be as good as Metro in his first habs camp then we have new blood with better potential. To block one of those with the same old, same old doesnt make sense.
Metro will still be around in November if the team needs his services for another year. Just dont confuse a journeyman minute eater with a potential top six player.
don't worry about me being confused - you should look in the mirror. no one said Metro was top 6, the point I was making is that all PG has done is taken away from last years team and has not added any proven NHL talent. so in your mind our strategy is to look for a diamond in the rough to solve your problems, thats a great idea...maybe AK will score 50 and OB will turn into Chris Pronger...so this off season, the Habs have added....hope...that should come in handy when we are getting pounded by the Bruins, Flyers and any other team that feels like doing it since PG has not addressed the 2 most important issues this team faced - too easy to play against (i.e. zero toughness) and lack of 5 on 5 scoring.
Who led the Habs in power play goals last season (despite being 10th in PP TOI)?
Any team could sign him to an offer sheet and the Habs would have to match it or give him up for picks.
I hope Bell Center does not turn into Carey Price Booooo Center this year.
I'm not a Price hater, but I do know Montreal fans, who can be ruthless at times. What is the over-under on when the Bell Centre crowd starts chanting "Jaro! Jaro! Jaro"?
1st game? 15th? 60th? Never?
1st home game as soon as he lets in a goal, doesn't matter if it's soft or not.
You know what? I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say they support the kid..
I could not agree with your post more..............that's exactly what will happen..............He is the goalie..........the players have to score the goals.................& work in front of him most of all get yourself dirty......go for it use the body................Price stay in the net not behind you sometime confuse the defence when you handle the puck........less rebounds.............GOOD LUCK to you Price!!!!!!!!!!!!!GO HABS GO!!!!!!! I hope you sign with the Habs we are still waiting for that...........RIGHT GUYS??????
"but contracts are ALWAYS awarded for regular season play. That's why Joe Thornton makes 7 million a year" AndrewBerkshire
That would explain the salary of Gomez? Nice to know.
"And I am really looking forward to watching Michael Cammalleri in the NHL. He had an awesome year in the AHL." PIERRE McGUIRE
2005-06 + Glenn Sather = Scott Gomez's contract.
Ummmmm..... Gomez played for the Devils in 2006-2007.
"And I am really looking forward to watching Michael Cammalleri in the NHL. He had an awesome year in the AHL." PIERRE McGUIRE
So previous years of regular season play have no relevance to contract negotiations? Really? So because Kovalchuk had a fairly pedestrian 85 point season, he shouldn't be pricing himself as a franchise player then right? Considering according to you, previous years make no difference, so it doesn't matter how many times he's scored 50.
I am tired arguing with you. You can never admit when you are wrong but just resort to thunder and bluster.
I just pointed out an obvious error and you added the rest.
"And I am really looking forward to watching Michael Cammalleri in the NHL. He had an awesome year in the AHL." PIERRE McGUIRE
You're tired of arguing with me, so you dredged up something I wrote 5 hours ago?
And where exactly is the error? Where did I say Scott Gomez was signed after the 05-06 season? Nowhere. The problem here is that you're so obsessed with trying to have a "gotcha!" moment that you jump to conclusions in every post you write. Scott Gomez got that contract because of how dominant he was in 05-06, and Glenn Sather's penchant for overpaying UFA's when they go to market in 06-07. I'm all bluster? Get over yourself.
Your Spot on as usual. Quit feeding the trolls. They follow these tracks very well. Its a cat and mouse game and trolls wait for the bait to attack again.
Both XXX and Andrew are EXTREMELY KNOWLEDGEABLE.
Neither one is a troll.
Or, maybe I'm a troll, by your standards as well, since I question management.
I'm a sucker for the bait, I'll admit.
Ironic that one of the definitions for a troll is to spark an argument via the use of ad hominem attacks (i.e. "you are nothing but a troll or a fanboy) with no substance or fact to back up such statements. It is merely bluster to avoid addressing the actual point.
Troll is the most overused and incorrectly used words on the internet.
"And I am really looking forward to watching Michael Cammalleri in the NHL. He had an awesome year in the AHL." PIERRE McGUIRE
Speaking of no substance or fact to back up such statements. Have you found any comps for Price yet?
And here I thought you'd slunk away back into a corner after I made you look foolish again.
If someone implies that I am a troll I feel compelled to set them straight.
Hardly slinking away just bored with you.
"And I am really looking forward to watching Michael Cammalleri in the NHL. He had an awesome year in the AHL." PIERRE McGUIRE
So bored that you went back throughout a bunch of posts in order to find something I said and try to be all contrary about it. You're not bored, you're pissed off because you keep getting shown up.
What's the matter with you? You're such a child.
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"This has to be the mother of all brain-dead decisions." Red Fisher regarding the Halak trade.
Pot, meet kettle.
"Game, set, match. Point. Scott. Game over. End of game"
- Michael Scott
Hello everyone. I have a question. Most of us saw Shawn Belle have a few games with the big boys last year. How ready is he to make the jump to the nhl? I'd love to see him in the back end as well as he could be a physical force.
Never, he has the hockey sense of a bag of hammers. His skill is just good enough so that plays in the AHL aren't too fast for him to follow, but the NHL speed is overwhleming to him.
not this year, there are about 10 defenceman ahead of him.
Hahahahaha, that video bashing facebook and twitter is classic!
There's another funny one on the Gretzky site with Hull, Mike Keenan, Barkley and others singing with the house band at one of the after parties.
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Ya! The Habs Rule! now on Twitter!
Price has leverage in a world that doesnt have goalies. Fortunately this world has lots of goalies.
The new reality is not fun if you are a young goalie. There are lots available and plenty of evidence to think twice before offering long term contracts to any goaltender.
If Price doesnt like what the habs are offering he can sit without a contract or go play in Europe. At this point in time no team is going to offer up a 1st and 3rd round pick to sign Carey. The most this guy gets is 3 years at 2.5 million and that fits under our cap.
The market for goaltenders is very soft right now and could get worse. Supply is outstripping demand and the flyers and hawks just proved that you can win with a low priced goaltender if one gets hot at the right time.
I think price is still eligible for bonus'...So we sign him under or at 2 million a season in cap and he gets an extra million or so if he performs well. Still fits under our cap, and doesn't cost us the farm if he still plays decent... If and when he plays to his capabilities it still costs less than Halak. Win, Win, Win...
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey...
Up to $3 million dollar offer all it costs that team is a #2 draft pick. He sure does have leverage!
If I'm Price's agent, I know my client will be the # 1 goalie for the Habs this coming season.
I call up the Habs and ask them for the best 1 year deal I can have.
Period.
If I get 1.5, or 1.75, 2.0 million - I take it and sign it.
Then I come to camp in the best shape of my life.
I let everyone in the media know how hard I've trained, and how ready I am to play for the habs.
And then I just play my tail off, and hope for the best.
Because, the FIRST SOFT GOAL, there will be at least a few dozen clowns that will be booing.
THE FIRST SOFT GOAL!!.
lol price is going to get some serious coin lol.... put it this way, what are our options? mason, theo, turco? really?
mason signed in ATL
And if he sits? How will the fans react to Gauthier if Auld or some other one even is the goalie and Gauthier traded their favourite the MVP of the team away? Goodbye Price means goodbye Gauthier too!
Uhm the flyers showed you need a good goalie or you'll lose in the finals. and the hawks showed you can win one year and then be forced to blow up your team. lets niemi play next year; niemi didn't exactly stand out as a goalie in the playoffs. Ask the sharks and wings what mediocore goaltending got them, early exits.
price is the best available goalie in the whole ufa and rfa pool. not signing him would be a huge mistake for the team, short and long term.
Ask the sharks and wings what mediocore goaltending got them
For the Wings: mediocre and very very cheap goaltending got them two Cups since '98 (that is, Osgood in '98 and '08 - the '97 and '02 Cups were won with fabulous goaltending by Vernon and Hasek, respectively).
Hawks were a better team than the Flyers who were a much better team than the Habs.
Laps seems to play best when he plays with linemates who bring energy as well. TK (and Lats at times) in 08/09, Moore and Pyatt in the playoffs. I think playing with Pyatt, and a rookie who wants to make an impact, in Eller, could work well for him. Eller is still an unknown variable at this point, but if what the scouts et al say is true, than he could be a catalyst. Laps seems to feed off that energy. This could actually be a dynamic third line.
I still for the life of me can't figure out what is going on with Chicago, but it's a real shame that we don't have the cap space to take on Sharp if he's available. It is so strange these days. The team that won the Cup will enter next season with a completely different roster. Not that they are necessarily going to be way worse or anything, as that fantastic core is still there. But it is still strange to see such significant changes to a championship team. That's the new NHL I guess...
I wanted to reply to some posts from this morning re: Max Lapierre;
because I think there is a bigger issue, and I would be interested in some feedback.
Here's the quote I pulled from SF '09
"but they're not sure which is the real Lapierre yet".
And here's the quote from Tom -
"If his role is that he's an agitator, and that's what the team wants him to be, he might be a bit underpaid here. But if his role is to be a physical bottom six checker, he's priced accordingly with this contract.
What's the connection between the 2?
We don't know who Max Lapierre truly is, yet.
Now, if you're running a business, and you hire someone, who's responsibility is it to define the employee's role?
Isn't it your responsibility - the owner, or the manager, or in this case, the Habs / JM?
Max will be a good NHL player one day; effective and productive.
But, it is very likely NOT with the Habs - because he can't "find himself" in this organisation, and the organisation is also letting him down.
Max is big, he's fast, he's agressive and he has good hands.
I believe that the player MUST GIVE THE EFFORT FIRST AND FOREMOST; but,
The organisation, it is equally true, MUST GIVE THE DIRECTION to its employees, to maximise the return.
Hate to say it, but I think the Habs are lacking this area.
Its part of the "professional development" discussions we've had.
What hogwash. The guy just isn't all that good. The org wants to see if he is as bad as last year or as good as he was with his pal Gui. Ed you ought to know better than take 2 comments entirely out of context and attach your own opinion to link the two. It isn't a solid basis for argument.
Let's take Toms quote (gag).... tell me, what is the difference between an agitator and a physical bottom 6 checker? Honestly, nothing whatsoever, other than an agitator is a physical bottom 6 checker who runs his mouth.
And by physical, let's not kid ourselves, after 3 years no one on the Habs brass is expecting Lapierre to go out and kill guys with hits. Seriously, you are setting up a great big straw man so that you can play your (and others') favorite record, "The Habs can't manage their own players".
Imagine Lapierre scored 13 goals last year. Now imagine a 3 year deal for 3-4m do we need to have this discussion?
It's incredible how far out of your way you guys will go to try and make every decision that management makes into a big mistake, a lost opportunity or proof of an organizational deficiency.
Lapierre is not part of the nucleus, and for good reason, he is easily replaceable. Bubble player, bubble team. The nucleus, outside of Price, are all signed long term. So Lapierre gets a year to show that he is not an interchangeable part. The brass, like the rest of us, want to see if he can commit to being the player he was in the playoffs. It really is that simple. That IS the direction they have given him. It is up to him to live up to it now.
Others will get their shot if he doesn't come through, and they know it (e.g. White). Certainly if Lapierre spends his whole season crapping the bed again, and doesn't lose his job to a Ryan White type, I will join you on the organizational stupidity bandwagon. But let's not give Maxim Lapierre a free pass to get out of the way so you guys can bash the org baselessly.
Nice rant.
Not even remotely close to what I said, however.
I was very clear.
Player - max lapierre - responsibility to work hard and produce
Team - Habs - responsibility to define consistent, clear, expectations of player
BOTH are responsible, not exclusively the player.
You still sum up by blaming the org and pointing to a problem with pro development. Don't be disingenuous, you were very clear (and by clear I mean you straddled the fence) right up until the end where you claimed the org was at fault.
Yes - I said the organisation was "lacking" - because last year they hung Lapierre out to dry.
Yes, all those chances they gave him to actually DO something were so unfair!
Arpon Basu has an interesting article on the whole Laps issue Ed as well as the Price contract.
From what I take of it he believes PG shares the opinion of most of the HIO readers ( aside from you and I ) that Laps has yet to prove his worth. It would seem to me that a competent management team should know what an employee is all about after three years work.
More interesting is that he agrees with what I have been saying on the Price contract talks. Basically PG made a tactical error in NOT signing Price before trading away Halak. This move gave Price negotiating leverage he did not previously have. The end result is that he on his own initiative put a long term contract with Price beyond the present cap space.
When the GM botches up the contract negotiations with his most valued young asset it makes you wonder about his competency in other matters.
http://bit.ly/bTuXZQ
"And I am really looking forward to watching Michael Cammalleri in the NHL. He had an awesome year in the AHL." PIERRE McGUIRE
This whole drummed up controversy about not signing Price before trading Halak is such BS. You keep talking about competent management like you've ever managed anything in your life. You're one of many who never stops bitching about how "little" we got for Halak, can you imagine what we would have got if Price was already signed? Not Eller, I can tell you that. Maybe Ben Bishop.
It's way more important to have leverage in trade talks than negotiations with a NON-arbitration eligible RFA goalie coming off a losing season. Use you're brain.
andrew,
maybe if Gauthier wanted some "leverage" in his trade talks, he could have waited until at least the
draft to make the trade?
when you get 30 teams in the same room, discussing trades, you usually increase your leverage, do you not?
When you have to sign Plekanec by July 1st, you don't want to wait around to get your other deals done.
To pretend it's as simplistic as the Halak deal being the only thing Gauthier was dealing with is a little dishonest, don't you think?
incompetant management is the word.
and you did not answer the questions posed yesterday - what do you mean by neo-con? are you a racist?
Do you really not know what neo-con means? In what way could that possibly be considered racism????
Neo-con is short for neo-conservatism. How a political ideology propagated most recently by the Bush administration could be considered a race is beyond me.
because it was invented by anti-semites who claimed that's who were behind bush's foreign policy
Tony, neo-con dates back to the 1960's.
it originally meant democrat conservatives in the early 70s but i am talking about the term the way it was used and until now after bush was first elected.
c/p
"When Buchananites toss around "neoconservative"— and cite names like Wolfowitz and Cohen— it sometimes sounds as if what they really mean is "Jewish conservative." This is a malicious slur on two levels. First, many of the leading neocons aren't Jewish; Jeane Kirkpatrick, Bill Bennett, Father John Neuhaus and Michael Novak aren't exactly menorah lighters. Second, support for Israel— a key tenet of neoconservatism— is hardly confined to Jews; its strongest constituency in America happens to be among evangelical Christians.
Uh, no it wasn't. But I don't know why I'm talking to you Tony.
It is used for that reason only by those people. If you didn't realize it years later you just learned something.
You have no clue what you're talking about. The word Neo-con has been around for decades.
so has the word liberal- and look how that meaning has changed. - i am talking about how it is today and was used since bush was first elected or over the last 10 years by the likes of who use it today.
http://www.danielpipes.org/comments/20960
Colloquialism doesn't equal definition. The definition of liberal has not changed, only the way uneducated ignoramuses use it has.
Neo-conservatism will always refer to a political ideology where military force and coercion is used to exert influence in other countries under the guise of "nation building". It's actually a deviation from liberal concepts, which was called conservative as a scathing criticism by less aggressive liberals.
And Pipes is just a greeaaaat resource to send people to. He's a quack.
Oh yes the meaning changes. Gay used to mean happy, carefree now it means something else.
You bigot!
Neo-conservatism will always refer to a political ideology where military force and coercion is used to exert influence in other countries under the guise of "nation building".
So the Kings of England and France were neo-conservatives when they used military force to exert influence in North America.
I never heard the term neo-con until the past few years NEVER neo-con is what you used NOT neo-conservatives and you used it purposely you racist bigot! And only used by anti-semites! Like you!
Like you earned more degrees than the "quack" Pipes.
Do you also hate Camalleri? Or did you also hate Mathieu Schneider you bigot!
When a Buchanen, or a Cindy Sheehan, etc. use the term "neo-con" - they mean Jew!
Pipes a quack? That was not even his comment on the link?
And after reading that comment of yours - you are no different than Buchanen in your hidden meaning of the neo-con phrase you used on this hockey site.
And you also answered in the affirmative the second question whether you were a racist!
BTW- "liberal" of yesterday has been hijacked by the left today. It is no where near the same.
Conservatism is a race now?
the term - neo-con
George Will: It's not necessarily anti-Semitic. There is often an anti-Semitic twist to it, yes.
--
And when you listen to those who constantly use it such as Pat Buchanen, Cindy Sheehan, left-wing anti-semites, every Israel basher, it means just one thing.
Hahaha Pat Buchanen IS a neo-con!!! You clearly don't have a ***ing clue what you're talking about. And Cindy Sheehan is about as relevant as the kleenex I blow my noes into.
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