They Tore Down Paradise and Put up a Parking Lot …


No more plaques, no more statues, no more teachers’ dirty looks …

The profs in question will be shoving their disconnected looks the Habs ‘ way instead.

For a franchise whose image lies somewhere between Jeffrey Dahlmer and Mario Tremblay, the announcement of the team tearing down Centennial Plaza in lieu of a condo project is suspect. Sketchy …

Not only are ‘ the corporate Habs ‘ ripping up a celestial cemetery, the accountants are subtracting the hearts of the many fans who aided in the construction of the plaza – brick by brick …

According to Molson – the bricks, bought by fans with personalized messages to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the
team’s final Cup win … ( digress shall we ), will unequivocally be placed in storage until further notice.

Was there a disclaimer involved in the sales receipt when the partisans parted with their pennies to purchase pieces of the plaza? A note stating the bits of nostalgia written from the souls of people from Gaspe to Chilliwack can be moved by the Club de Hockey Canadien …?

If yes – cool!

If the response is no, nada – ‘watcha talkin’ bout Willis?’ – then, in the words of the disco band Shirley and Co.; ‘Shame, shame, shame – shame on you! ‘

Well – watcha goin’ to do?!

The Canadiens used to be the hockey equivalent of ‘ Hey Jude ‘ , ‘Stairway to Heaven‘ or ‘ Satisfaction’. Publicly anyways.
In the days of the typewriter, before the internet made porn a cause for divorce – all the seedy and suspect business or hockey decisions were kept in secrecy.

Guys like Red Fisher were the sole bearers of bad Habs’ moves. More times than not – the news was kept behind closed penalty box doors. If guys like Mr. Fisher wanted access to the team, anything out of the ordinary was kept out of the ordinary press if Fisher wanted to keep his privaleges privileged.

Times have changed. Soooo much!

Loyalty,tradition and honor has been jettisoned from the ship of society so often, the ship sails on filled with greed as the captain and inconsiderate as the first mate.

The majority of the men whose numbers hang from the targets of so much love and adoration at Le Centre Bell, skated a different ice surface. A mirrored canvas, a reflection of a different time. They painted historic statistics with paint brushes filled with the true colors of red, white and blue.

Not the dollar store purchased acrylic colors which the modern – day team has utilized far too often in the past ten years.

The University of Montreal Hockey, the glory and the tradition of the franchise appears to have closed.

School’s out. Forever …

Molson in Meetings – Roy Out?


Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Or something like that …

According to a source, Montreal Canadiens’ owner Geoff Molson has spent almost the entire past two weeks behind closed doors.

High – security type stuff.

One man is conspicuous with his absence. That man’s name is Patrick Roy.

According to someone whose job allows a view of such comings and goings …Roy of Rempart fame has visited the least amount of times compared to other coaching camdidates. What does that mean?

Depending on a person’s passion, rational thinking and the amount of beers digested after dinner – Roy’s resting in Ste. Foy could dIctate a number of possibilities …

Molson and newly- appointed G.M. Bergevin, may have hired their coach a while ago. These ‘cloak and hockey stick’ meetings – an opportunity to solve different issues. Small matters such as what train to place Scott Gomez on, how to keep Grigorenko away from future KHL visitors and Carey Price far as possible from buckin’ broncos …

For argument’s sake, if Patrick or anyone else has been hired as the Habs’ new leader; why allow a distraction when important issues such as draft day approaches. Especially if their man is Roy. The phone would be ringing more often in Molson and Bergevin’s office than a pleasant pizza joint with a half- priced pepperoni pizza on sale.

Who needs that when Rene Bourque is AWOL and Tomas Kaberle added an offspring to the world who just may grow into another … well, Kaberle!

L’absence de Roy could also imply the team is still looking for the perfect candidate to raise the team to new heights. Although, no candidates have passed before Molson in person for at least a week.

Could Bergevin and Molson be smarter than your average Belarusian brother? Are they speaking to their new coach via Skype? Plotting strategy and making a draft plan to suit the new bosses’ needs … ?

Given the Montreal Canadiens’ recent success with a ‘tight- lipped’ mentality, a fan of the team can only hope for one thing;

Silence is golden …

Little Johnny Goes Shopping


If the Montreal Canadiens were steering the Titanic – a lot of lives would have been lost. In other words – the organization cannot see the obvious even if it were erected on the side of it’s home – Le Centre Bell.

Amazing is it not? Sell ten dollar hot – dogs? Not a problem. Sign Tomas ( marshmallow ) Kaberle to a multi- year deal while everyone around the league snickers at his every shift? Once again, for Le Club de Hockey Canadien – as easy as an Eric Weinrich hair cut! Try to sign a General Manager for the storied club? Suddenly it is like pulling teeth from a rabid squirrel – difficult, dirty and dangerous!

In any business, a properly – run business, a list of candidates should be made for the open position. Check. The Habs have done that or are in the process of doing so. Like the old guy in the red suit that comes each year; les Canadiens are making a list and hopefully – checking it twice.

The list with the names of potential G.M’s should be a piece of perfection. Not a dollar – store run. Not the type of list that a young Mom sends her eight- year- old to accomplish. If little Johnny was sent shopping for peanut butter, a jar with a picture of an elephant holding a toy car would fill the shelves at his home.The good stuff? Still at Wall mart being man – handled by Wall martians presumably.

Little Johnny should not be allowed to purchase a G.M. for les Canadiens de Montreal. If Molson allows such a thing, little Johnny will come home to the Bell Center and place some odd items on the shelf. Items such as …

Luc Robitaille.

Lucky Luke comes in an attractive package. Young enough to be hip and old enough to place square pegs in square holes. His label arrives in two languages yet his off – ice skills are delivered in one. The type of product our grandmothers displayed when visitors arrived. The good stuff? Hidden away for personal pleasure when the guests have left.

Ron Hextall

Little Johnny loves psychos! What little boy does not? Hextall is akin to a father of three buying a sportscar with two seats. A sportscar that ran over the family dog a few years back!Hextall may be quick to pull a punch with his competitive juices yet the unilingual sock-it- to-me will only do damage in the Montreal media. An enemy remains an enemy!

Guy Carbonneau

Like any child left unpunished, the same mistakes will be made over and over until the same result results in a bad result. Little Johnny requires guidance – or punishment if Guy is his guy! Carbonneau is too closely removed from the bitterness some feel towards Bob ( as in Gainey).

Larry Carriere

See above

If Serge Savard and Geoff Molson are serious,covering all the bases is a crash course for Serge. An intro to the free – spending, cap – induced league of Bettman’s nations. In the course of the next few weeks, Savard must re – acquaint himself with the league and sort through the sheep and the wolves.

Savard and his intelligence, may be using his ‘quest for a G.M.’ job as a cover. A costume which allows an insight into the inner – working of the NHL circa 2012. A NHL that Savard is out of touch with.A new type of Hallowe’en parity.

If that is the case – is it any wonder Savard won a few Cups before the Titanic grabbed a few Oscars? It is obvious …

" Here's the plan! I become G.M. And you coach ...! "

Former Habs’ captain Butch Bouchard passed away this morning, April 14 – 2012. He was 92. Stay tuned in the course of the next few days for more information.

———————

The End of Gauthier ‘ s Tale …


A vain Pierre Gauthier who cares for nothing but his appearance and attire -  hires two tailors who are really swindlers. They promise him the finest , best suit of clothes . The fabric is invisible to anyone who is unfit for his position or ” just hopelessly stupid “.

The ‘ Ghost ‘ cannot see the cloth himself ;  he pretends that he can  - for fear of appearing unfit for his position. His ministers do the same. When the swindlers report the suit is finished ; they mime dressing him and Pierre Gauthier then marches in procession before his subjects. The subjects  play along with the pretense. Suddenly, a child in the crowd ,too young to understand the desirability of keeping up the pre tense – blurts out that Gauthier is wearing nothing at all and the cry is taken up by others.

Pierre Gauthier cringes –  suspecting the assertion is true, but holds himself up proudly and continues the procession.

Until now …

June 17, 2010: Trades Jaroslav Halak to the St. Louis Blues for Lars Eller and Ian Schultz.

June 23, 2010: Signs UFA Tomas Plekanec to a six-year, $30-million deal.

June 29, 2010: Trades Sergei Kostitsyn and future considerations to Nashville for Dan Ellis, Dustin Boyd and future considerations.

Sept. 2, 2010: Signs RFA Carey Price to a two-year, $5.5 million deal.

Dec. 28, 2010: Acquires James Wisniewski from the Islanders in exchange for 2011 second-round and 2012 fifth-round picks.

June 24, 2011: Signs Andrei Markov to a three-year, $17.25-million deal.

June 29, 2011: Trades Wisniewski’s rights to Columbus for a 2012 fifth-round pick.

July 1, 2011: Signs Erik Cole to a four-year, $18 million deal.

July 23, 2011: Signs Josh Gorges to a one-year, $2.5 million deal.

Dec. 9, 2011: Traded Jaroslav Spacek to Carolina for Tomas Kaberle.

Jan. 1, 2012: Signs Gorges to a six-year, $23.4 million deal.

Jan. 12, 2012: Traded Michael Cammalleri to Calgary for Rene Bourque.

Feb. 17, 2012: Traded Hal Gill to Nashville for Blake Geoffrion and a 2011 second-round pick.

Feb. 27, 2012: Traded Andrei Kostitsyn to Nashville for a 2013 second-round draft pick and a conditional 2013 fifth-round draft pick.

————————————————————

Trade with Purpose …


As the day ends and the night draws near – The Montreal Canadiens will play the Florida Panthers at 5 pm tonight in Florida. When the team returns home to play the Wild ( after a game against Tampa ) on March 1 , who will be skating for the Habs and who will not …?

If the team decides to rid themselves of Kostisyn and / or  Plekanec , they would be better off if a master plan was in effect. Or else – the team will be spinning their skates and end up in the exact position next year.

All indications appear that the team is now going for a top pick in the lottery. How else can the current three game skid be explained ? At the start of the week – the Habs were six points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for the final play-off spot. Losing to the Devils , the Stars and the Capitals and being out-scored 10 – 3 in the process, is not an indication of a hungry team.

If Molson et al have decided to re – build ( again), that is fine. Go for a first round pick in next season’s draft. It has been a long time since the Habs’s faithful have had something to be excited about. Add that player to the roster that contains bright young stars such as Subban, Leblanc, Tinordi, Diaz and Emelin. A vase in which to place the flowers in the organization that have yet to bloom …

Alter the club all you want fellas – please have a game plan for once …

Plekanec is willing to veto his no trade clause according to a report from Pat Hickey of the Gazette. Pleks has been a great player in Montreal – he has done everything that has been asked of him in turbulent times. Trade him if necessary yet trade him for a young -ish veteran that will compliment the rest of the youth.

Every Cup contender needs veterans to keep the ship level while the young guns learn their craft. This is the mistake Gauthier made when he failed to sign Hamrlik and Halpern and let Spacek go to Carolina for Kaberle.

Toughness

Next season – if the team goes via the way of the fountain of youth. Gionta and Cole  will be  the two veterans who will lead the young guns. If the team must trade Kostisyn and Pekanec they must upgrade to size and heart with a player who is between 25 – 30 years of age. Someone young enough and scary enough to instill some fear into opposing teams. Two elements that Kostisyn and Plekanec did not possess.

Look at all the Stanley Cup champions throughout history. The common denominator is talent , toughness and heart. The Habs have talent. Now they must trade or draft for some heart and grit.

These are the types of players that should be skating for the Habs on March 1 .

Related articles

Top Ten Signs the Habs are Struggling


Oops …

Three straight losses at home to start the new season – say it ain’t so Joe Malone

The Habs have plenty of time to turn things around yet there are signs that panic maybe setting in ….

Here now are the Top Ten Signs the Habs are Struggling …

10. Martin spotted buying a book written by Gretzky . The title ? F*CK defense . SCORE BABY SCORE  !

9. Scalpers outside the Bell Center seen eating peanut butter and jam sandwiches.

8. The Toronto Maple Leafs have more points !

7. P.K Subban booked a plane ticket to Haiti … for the third period on TUESDAY NIGHT!

6. T – shirt sales ain’t what they used to be …

5. Gomez one of the more popular players !

4. Carey Price ‘ s horse is keeping the neighbors awake with his moaning.

3. Geoffrey Molson is secretly speaking to George Gillette.

2. Hal Gill will have to settle for a ‘ My parents went to Hal Gill’s 1000th game and all I got was this lousy t-shirt ‘ t-shirt.

and the number one sign the Habs are struggling … ?

1. The Winnipeg Jets are the only team they can beat !

%d bloggers like this: