May 7 2012

Back to the Future: Habs Marc Bergevin on a tough mission

When in 1909, Ambrose O’Brien and Jimmy Gardner came out with the idea to create a powerful team of French-speaking hockey players and name it Les Canadiens, little did they know that for years to come, the debate would still be raging strong in the hearts of its immense fan base.

We will not get into the language debate at this time, but for those interested, we did look at the impact of local players on the Canadiens in this article back in August 2011.

When Serge Savard was asked by Geoff Molson to help him find the new General Manager to bring the pride back to an organisation in dire need, the underlying issue of local products on the team was evident. When he was GM in Montreal, Savard believed in having French Canadians form a core of his teams and while today’s landscape is different today, it looks as though Bergevin shares a similar understanding of the Montreal market place. During his press conference, he was clear about wanting a bilingual head coach and he also mentioned that one amateur scout was not enough for the QMJHL. This news promises to be unpopular for many, but is reassuring for many others.

But how exactly, in a time when few local talents are being drafted and making it to the NHL, could Bergevin turn the Habs’ prospect pool into one that would give the team a chance to have some of the few with a chance to make it? There is definitely no easy solution, but Bergevin comes across as the type of person who is not afraid to do what he feels is right.

Of course, better scouting and putting a conscious effort into looking long and hard in the team’s own backyard is one way, but that only works for the long term. Few local products are even on the last list of North American prospects released by Central Scouting, none of which is listed in the top 30. We are left with two other options: acquiring some through trades and/or free agency.

Looking through this year’s free agents’ list, only one name jumped out as a possibility and that is Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau , a late bloomer 29 year old right winger who stands at 6’0” and 193 lbs and who is coming out of a career high 67 points season, including 18 goals.

For the purpose of this column, I went through all other 29 NHL teams and looked at most potential targets for Marc Bergevin. It goes without saying that not all of those players would be available and that the asking price would vary greatly amongst them. Have a look for yourself:

While the top end talent is somewhat sparse, there are some players on that list which could definitely contribute something to this team. In some cases, Bergevin would have to part with equally valuable talent but in most cases, those players would come fairly cheap. For example, there is no reason why a guy like Maxim Lapierre couldn’t do what Jeff Halpern and Petteri Nokelainen provided during their stay in Montreal.

This research wouldn’t be complete without looking at the prospect pool of each one of those teams as well. Here are some of the most interesting prospects. Again, the asking price would vary greatly:

Could Bergevin find a package that would entice Dale Tallon in Florida to accept parting with Jonathan Huberdeau? Would the Habs take a flyer on Angelo Esposito or Patrice Cormier? There is no doubt in my mind that a trade talent for talent could be worked out for some of those players. Granted, there are no certainties that they would make it to the NHL, let alone contribute at that level, but the same can be said about some of the prospects in the Habs’ organisation.

Not an easy task ahead for Marc Bergevin and this is likely not his number one priority at this point, but heading into this draft, with the Canadiens selecting where they are, this off-season might just be the best time to start the process of bringing back some of the local pride, building on what is already an exciting and promising time for the organisation and its fans.

PS: Some might be from the Ottawa region, Ontario and/or the Maritimes. As far as I know, they are bilingual.

En français: Retour vers le futur: Marc Bergevin a une mission difficile

Nov 6 2011

The Instigator on All Habs Hockey Magazine!

For someone who likes writing, there is no better comfort than being read, no matter if the readers fully agree or not with what is being written. And for someone who writes for the fun of it and not for money, it quickly becomes a hobby, a passion which hopefully is being felt by those reading the texts.

I started this blog exactly a year ago, as a way for my English speaking friends and family to be able to read what I was already writing in French on my own site, fantomesduforum.net. Little did I know that so many of you would come and read what was crossing my mind at any point in time, the way you have. Just last week, my Twitter account has reached the 500 followers mark, which is amazing considering that I don’t claim having any sources for rumours, and I’m certainly not a prominent figure or a professional writer in the sports world, far from there. But because of your support, I have made the decision to take the next step, to try to get you, readers, a better setting, a much bigger and better platform to read the stupidities that I have to say.

It is with great pleasure that I am joining what is already a great team of writers at All Habs Hockey Magazine and it is my hope that I will be able to live up to the high standards they have already attained. After all, you don’t rank 11th overall with over 45,000 followers on Twitter without quality content!

So this little blog will remain dormant for the time being, serving more as a source of archived articles. I owe it to All Habs to give them the exclusivity of my blogs and articles, although I will keep on having the same write-ups in French on fantomesduforum.net.

So thank you for your amazing support and click on the following link to see my profile on Allhabs.net!

Oct 21 2011

Into the fire: Five Habs hot topics

Just a few games into the 2011-2012 campaign and we are not lacking topics of discussion when it comes to the Montreal Canadiens. True that the team’s on-ice performance isn’t helping any, but the drama through the media and fan forums has everyone questioning everything so far in this very early season. Here are five of the hottest topics so far:

Andrei Markov

News came out that Habs’ defenseman Andrei Markov will stay in Florida for a third consecutive week. Rumours are circulating on the internet to the effect that the Canadiens’ management is not happy with the whole situation as they apparently had received confirmation from the medical staff that Markov was close to a return at 100%. This is a major setback for the organization that not only risked over $17 million on the Russian defenseman over a three year period, but gambled that he could return to form as well. As we know, Markov was skating on his own and GM Pierre Gauthier had announced that if Markov wasn’t ready for day one, he wouldn’t be missing much time in October. It will be interesting to see how things unfold in the next few weeks, but I’m thinking that if the rumours are true, there might be some high end lawyers looking into an out in this contract.

Scott Gomez

The overpaid center made no excuses at the end of last season when, in front of cameras and teammates, he acknowledged that had he played better, the Habs would still be in the playoffs. It was documented that he worked harder than he ever had this summer and showed some good things in pre-season. Unfortunately, he was not having the start of the season he was hoping for before injuring his shoulder (or upper body as they say) against the Penguins on Thursday. I don’t doubt that Gomez wants to have a good season but the fact remains that following a 36 points season, fans, teammates and management were entitled to seeing an improvement. Gomez is the story of a desperate GM who offered him too much money, and of another GM who made a mistake by trading for him. Can’t blame the guy for signing the contract in front of him and the expectations shouldn’t be based on that contract. That being said, people are entitled to comparing his performances to his past production and that’s where the problem sits right now.

P.K. Subban

After a great first season last year, the sophomore jinx seems to be pointing its ugly nose at one of the fan favourites in Montreal. Subban has all the tools to succeed but in order to have success, he must find a way to channel his high energy by learning to make better decisions on the ice. While the tendency is to try to take the team on your back when things start going wrong, that’s actually when he needs to keep things simple and reel it back a notch or two. Go back to basics PK, for the good of the team, as we know that it’s not a lack of skills or a lack of will, but rather over-exuberance that gets you off your game.

Jacques Martin

While not happy with the hiring, I was willing to give the runner a chance. In spite of the smoke screen of a 2nd round exit from the playoffs two years ago, riding the coat tail of a hot goaltender, I’m very disappointed. This team has too much speed and creativity to be sitting back with 5 players in front of their own net. The Subban, Weber and Diaz need to be able to do like the defensemen in Vancouver and join the rush to better support the offense. Also, in spite of what he may believe, the players would greatly appreciate some muscle in the line-up to better protect them. Many say that Muller was the one the players respected. I buy that. As much as I love Bob Gainey, he made two mistakes: yes, he traded for Gomez but the worst of all is the hiring of Martin.

Geoff Molson

He has stated himself having an anonymous Twitter account, following his players and members of the media. That’s cool for an owner and President of the most decorated franchise in the NHL. But Mr. Molson is also a hockey fan and while he’s done a good job staying away from the day to day hockey decisions so far, something tells me that if Pierre Gauthier and his coaching staff can’t right the ship soon, the owner’s patience will be put to the test. We know the Molson family’s relationship with Serge Savard and when Savard spoke against the current management in a recent episode of L’Antichambre on RDS, one would think that Geoff Molson was listening and might even share some of the Senator’s concerns.

Now here’s my real concern: this situation isn’t without reminding me of 1995. We’ll remember that the Habs were having a poor start to the season and after 5 consecutive losses, Ronald Corey fired Serge Savard and Jacques Demers to replace them with Rejean Houle and Mario Tremblay. We know the rest… In my humble opinion, Gauthier has attempted to create some job security for himself and his buddy Martin by letting Julien Brisebois and Guy Boucher go to Tampa Bay, then Kirk Muller to the Blackhawks’ organization. Still, changes need to occur at the very least behind the bench as this team could do so much better.

En français: Dans le feu: Cinq sujets chauds sur le Canadien

Oct 7 2011

The truth hurts: Don Cherry tells it like he sees it!

Who in the NHL hockey world doesn’t know Don “Grapes” Cherry by now? The 77 year old former player and former NHL coach has been telling his side of things on thousands of hockey related topics on Hockey Night in Canada since the early 80’s. Controversial and well known for his loud suits and even louder mouth, he’s not afraid to speak his mind even if he knows that he’ll ruffle some feathers.

In his most recent Coach’s Corner on CBC this past Thursday, Cherry went on a rant against Brendan Shanahan for his severe suspensions, saying that by doing so, he will take hitting out of hockey as that he’s giving the players excuses not to hit. Further, he blasted those, including the media, who took advantage on the fact that 3 enforcers passed away this summer to run an anti-fighting campaign. He pushed the issue further again by calling former fighters Stu Grimson, Chris Nilan and Jim Thomson “pukes” and “hypocrites” for, according to Cherry, implying that their substance and alcohol abuse on the fact that they were fighters. To his credit, Cherry did do some research on past suicide.

See for yourself:

Nilan, on his Twitter, requested a public apology from Cherry. Grapes’ response on Sportsnet radio? Tough luck. He did however say that he shouldn’t have called them “pukes” on TV, but remained firm on his stance that the only reason why they made such a good living is because of the fact that there were fights in the NHL and pointed out that those 3 are trying to prevent others to do the same. Here’s the audio and video:

Cherry’s clarification on Sportsnet

I will say this: While not a big fan of Cherry, I am 100% behind him on this whole story. The media knows that he’s right. The people he pointed the finger at also know it.

In my last blog, I actually question Shanahan when he chose to not suspend Ryan Malone and wondered if the players do know exactly what his message actually is. I do agree that the hits will be fewer and further between because when in doubt, players won’t want to risk a suspension that will see them lose thousands of dollars.

As for fighting, Grapes hit the nail right smash on the head! When talking on Sportsnet, he and Nick Kypreos made reference to the fastest growing sport in the world, the MMA. I strongly suggest you listen to that part of the conversation as they make such good points that the opponents don’t want to talk about it! Cherry is right! The media is jumping on a bandwagon campaign and report what’s on THEIR personal agenda! Think about it… why so many current and former NHL’ers are pro-fighting and why don’t their comments publicized?

Fact remains that fighting is part of NHL hockey and while the sport has evolved, some people are trying too hard to control everything off the ice by making stupid rules (instigator) and implementing longer suspensions, and now the talk about eliminating fighting. But what they’re truly doing instead is creating some major collateral damage by putting more weapons in the hands of cheap shot artists who don’t need to answer to anyone about their actions. Then they’ll try to come with even more stupid rules and the wheels on the bus go round and round…

I don’t like where the NHL is heading and truthfully, I don’t know what we can do to stop them. But one thing is certain: it starts at the leadership level and Bettman doesn’t know enough about the game itself to do anything about it.

En français: La vérité choque: Don Cherry le dit comme il le voit!

Oct 3 2011

Do players now know where Shanahan is “heading”?

Since Brendan Shanahan took over the discipline from Colin Campbell, he’s been extremely consistent with his suspensions, sending a clear message to all NHL players: DON’T HIT PLAYER’S HEAD!

Since the start of pre-season, Shanahan has suspended 9 players and has handed out a total of 59 pre-season and regular seasons’ games of suspension. The players are: Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond, Jody Shelley, James Wisniewski, Brad Staubitz, Brad Boyes, Tom Sestito, J-F Jacques, Brendan Smith and Clark MacArthur. It is interesting to note that all but one player (Jacques for leaving the bench to fight) were suspended for Rule 41.1 (Boarding) or 48.1 (Illegal check to the head), mostly on hits occurring when players were in a vulnerable position.

On Saturday night in Quebec City, Tampa Bay Lightning forward Ryan Malone was running everyone and everything over all night and with the game out of hand for his team with just a few minutes to play, he nailed Montreal Canadiens’ defenseman Chris Campoli with a hit to the head while Campoli was in a vulnerable position as he was reaching for the puck. The referees judged that it was indeed an infraction as Malone received a major penalty for hit to the head and was ejected from the game. Here’s the video:

It came as a surprise to many (if not most) when Shanahan rendered his decision and chose to let Malone walk free of any disciplinary action.

Not wanting to judge if he’s right or wrong here, I’m truly trying to wrap my head around what it is that Shanahan is trying to accomplish, or the message he’s trying to send as prior to this decision, the message was crystal clear in my mind. Looking at all of the other infractions and suspensions handed out by Shanahan so far, seeing that in many of those cases, the players victimized by the hits did put themselves in vulnerable positions and the explanations up until now were that the onus was on the hitter to avoid contact, I will say that I now have no clue of what’s permitted or not anymore. If I’m questioning my understanding of the rules, it’s not farfetched to think that players could feel the same way.

Is it at all possible that Shanahan is already feeling the pressure from the Governors and/or the NHLPA, or does he now find it harder to suspend a Top 6 forward?

Some players have already raised concerns that the sport was heading towards a non-hitting game as none of them want to risk a suspension costing them considerable amounts of cash. James Wisniewski has to forfeit over $536,000 in salary for his suspension so it’s hard to argue against their thinking.

Sometimes, by trying to solve an issue, you create other more important problems. When the league, in their attempt to prevent goons from going after star players, amended the instigator rule, they created a monster by protecting cheap-shot artists who now have carte-blanche to target the same stars. When they added the hitting from behind rule, they wanted to protect the players. Instead, the players now face the boards more than ever, often at the last minute, to avoid getting hit and putting themselves at risk in vulnerable positions. With the uncertainty of suspensions tied into hits to the head or boarding, it looks like there could be less and less hitting in the near future. If you add to that the movement by certain people to get rid of fighting in the game, and you’ll have the perfect recipe to further encourage cheap shots in the game that we love.

Trying to improve on something that was already good does not always have the desired effects.