15 years ago...

[jkrx]

Tremblay was Jacques Lemaire's assistant in Minnesota and then in NJ in the second go-round.

Wasn't he basically a glorified secretary though?

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Wasn't he basically a glorified secretary though?

Well, he was behind the bench during games, but nobody could figure out what he actually did back there.

 

[seventieslord]

Well...
Lumme was caught in a numbers game and traded for a 2nd pick, which isn't bad value.
And he had Kevin Haller for Svoboda, which is not that bad.

It's not?

I thought it was. Svoboda, right or wrong, is an ATD staple. Haller has yet to be selected 1500 picks into ATD2010.

 

[jkrx]

It's not?

I thought it was. Svoboda, right or wrong, is an ATD staple. Haller has yet to be selected 1500 picks into ATD2010.

Maybe that has more to do with at what position Haller was drafted and the fact that he had to retire early as opposed to being bad value compared to Svoboda.

 

[Master_Of_Districts]

Can't believe it's been 15 years alread. Heck, I can't believe it's been five years since I commemorated the 10-year anniversary!

Ahh, I remember it so vividly. It was a Saturday night, and the Leafs were playing the Ducks. CBC was cutting in for updates to the Habs/Wings game seemingly every 5 minutes.

I think I remember that Leafs-Ducks game.

Did Todd Krygier have to leave the ice to get his skates sharpened?

 

[seventieslord]

Maybe that has more to do with at what position Haller was drafted and the fact that he had to retire early as opposed to being bad value compared to Svoboda.

I was surprised when I just checked and saw that Svoboda was a career 20-minute man and Haller averaged about 19 (in a much shorter career, of course)

I don't think Haller warrants selection at this point in the draft that we're at (where Barret jackman, Jeff Norton, Mike Rathje, Paul Cavallini and Kyle McLaren are recent selections) but then what does this say about Svoboda? Why is he an ATD staple in the 500-600 range?

 

[seventieslord]

I think I remember that Leafs-Ducks game.

Did Todd Krygier have to leave the ice to get his skates sharpened?

haha... can't remember it that well!

 

[jkrx]

I was surprised when I just checked and saw that Svoboda was a career 20-minute man and Haller averaged about 19 (in a much shorter career, of course)

I don't think Haller warrants selection at this point in the draft that we're at (where Barret jackman, Jeff Norton, Mike Rathje, Paul Cavallini and Kyle McLaren are recent selections) but then what does this say about Svoboda? Why is he an ATD staple in the 500-600 range?

I don't know why Svoboda is that high and I haven't seen the ATD bio for him either. What I can say is that Svoboda for Haller wasn't an all that bad of a trade.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

I was surprised when I just checked and saw that Svoboda was a career 20-minute man and Haller averaged about 19 (in a much shorter career, of course)

I don't think Haller warrants selection at this point in the draft that we're at (where Barret jackman, Jeff Norton, Mike Rathje, Paul Cavallini and Kyle McLaren are recent selections) but then what does this say about Svoboda? Why is he an ATD staple in the 500-600 range?

I have no idea. I guess Svoboda gets a lot of credit for being a pioneer, but that's no reason to pick him in the ATD. He's very well rounded with no glaring weakness, which seems to be what some people go for with bottom pairing guys in the ATD. But then, you could say the same about Alexei Zhitnik...

He should fall to the MLD, in my opinion.

The ice time does underrate him a bit though, as he was stuck behind some excellent defensemen in Montreal, where he was at his best.

 

[jkrx]

Would a team fall with any of those two though? No. You would obviously not have either of them in your top pairing but both will get the job done in the bottom pairings with Svodboda being better offensively.

 

[Jimmy Carter]

The events that led to the worst trade ever happened.

What are you talking about, I loved that trade!

 

[JT Dutch*]

The events that led to the worst trade ever happened.

... The Habs lost their first five games that season, with Roy getting off to a very uncharacteristically weak start. That's what led to the regime change and Houle/Tremblay, if I remember correctly.

After the changes, Montreal went 12-4-1, and I suppose management tricked themselves into believing they were the ones responsible for the turnaround.

But if you look closer at the games ... the Habs' defense was allowing around 33 shots a game during that winning period. And the real reason for the Montreal resurgence was clear. Roy was stopping the puck from going in. In those 17 games, Roy played 16 of them and had a save percentage of .937. Going into the infamous Detroit game, his season save percentage was a still-solid .917.

Strange thing is, Roy had played against the Wings in Detroit just four days before. He played well, but lost 3-2. Jablonski played against St. Louis in the next game, but the Habs again gave up a ton of shots (38) and lost 5-4. Montreal's shots against totals game by game are remarkable leading up to the "day of infamy": 35, 26, 32, 38, 39, 36, 34, 15, 33, 43, 32, 38, 26, 30, 36, and 38. THEN comes the nightmare game against Detroit, where the Canadiens gave up 26 shots in 32 minutes. Roy just wasn't getting much help out there.

Anyway, if I also remember correctly, Roy missed a team meeting and practice the next day. I never did understand the Canadiens' reaction to that. I mean, sure - fine Roy's ass and/or suspend him for insubordination. But, TRADING him??? Seemed a bit extreme. I know what Roy said to Ronald Corey and all, but I can't believe that couldn't have been smoothed over a bit, given time.

 

[YzerTheMan*]

That was such an incredibly fun game to watch. Then having him end up in Colorado and being part of an epic rivalry. Awesome just awesome. I don't care if it cost the Wings a couple extra cups , I wouldn't trade those bloody showdowns for anything!

 

[Psycho Papa Joe]

Anyway, if I also remember correctly, Roy missed a team meeting and practice the next day. I never did understand the Canadiens' reaction to that. I mean, sure - fine Roy's ass and/or suspend him for insubordination. But, TRADING him??? Seemed a bit extreme. I know what Roy said to Ronald Corey and all, but I can't believe that couldn't have been smoothed over a bit, given time.

Roy himself said, he expected things to be smoothed over after a couple of days of cooling off. He never actually thought the Habs would call his bluff.

Just as an aside, things between the Habs and Roy were going bad before Houle/Tremblay came on board. The day Savard was fired, Lacroix called the Habs confirming a trade for Roy, but when he called, he was told Savard was fired. The trade was Nolan and Fiset for Roy. Better value, but keep in mind, Thibeault's potential was much more highly regarded than Fiset's at the time. He was probably the most promising 1st/2nd year goalie in the NHL at the time.

Even if Savard hadn't been canned, Roy was in his last days in Montreal.

Additionally, Detroit apparantly had the 2nd best offer, but my understanding is the Habs wanted Osgood as part of the package instead of Vernon.