Rumor: Friedman: “Habs management has been told to rebuild and stock up on picks and prospects.”

[Schwang]

I remember reading a Jack Todd column back in the early 2000's about how the Habs crippled themselves not only by trading good players like Roy for mediocre players like Thibault and Rucinsky, but also by adding good players as "throw-in's" on many of these lopsided deals. Keane was a very useful player who was tossed into the Roy deal almost as an afterthought. Darcy Tucker was a throw-in on a deal with Tampa which sent Stephane Richer to the Bolts for Igor Ulanov, Patrick Poulin and Mick Vukota. How would the fortunes of the Habs have been different had they retained both Tucker and Keane?

Wow. Richer and Tucker for those 3? How terrible.

 

[Laurentide]

Wow. Richer and Tucker for those 3? How terrible.

The Habs also included David Wilkie who never amounted to jack squat but who I'm sure McCagg was probably a fan of.

 

[scrubadam]

I remember reading a Jack Todd column back in the early 2000's about how the Habs crippled themselves not only by trading good players like Roy for mediocre players like Thibault and Rucinsky, but also by adding good players as "throw-in's" on many of these lopsided deals. Keane was a very useful player who was tossed into the Roy deal almost as an afterthought. Darcy Tucker was a throw-in on a deal with Tampa which sent Stephane Richer to the Bolts for Igor Ulanov, Patrick Poulin and Mick Vukota. How would the fortunes of the Habs have been different had they retained both Tucker and Keane?

Almost as if we had a cheap owner who was holding a fire sale.

I believe that our GM's were pretty incompetent at the time, but they probably got their marching orders from Molson who wanted to cut salary as much as possible.

 

[Laurentide]

Almost as if we had a cheap owner who was holding a fire sale.

I believe that our GM's were pretty incompetent at the time, but they probably got their marching orders from Molson who wanted to cut salary as much as possible.

It always begins and ends with ownership. When Gillett owned the team he showed that he was willing to spend. The fact that his money was not always wisely spent is a GM issue but the effort on the part of the owner was never a question. I remember going to a Habs game here in Vancouver after Gillett bought the team. As we Habs fans were all crowded around the glass for the pregame warm-up Gillett came down and shook hands with many of us (even offered me free tickets if I came to Montreal: "When you get to Montreal just call my gal and tell her that you met me in Vancouver and she'll fix you up with tickets". My buddy took him up on this offer when he went to Montreal and got a pair in the reds so Gillett was true to his word) People flocked to him. He was as popular as the players. I got a Habs cap autographed by him. Fans felt that this guy actually cared about winning.

But the previous Molson ownership and certainly Geoff's "improved fan experience" BS don't give anyone the warm fuzzies. The pre-Gillett Molson ownership was like the 2000's Expos. It was a fire sale in all but name. There was no commitment to winning, only to pinching pennies. And the reason why Gillett was able to buy the team and arena for such a cheap price was due to how badly Molson had devalued their own asset.

 

[BeliveauFan4ever]

Wow. Richer and Tucker for those 3? How terrible.

If our favorite team leads the league in anything the past 30 years, it's awful trades.

 

[Ezpz]

The Recchi trade was worse than the Roy trade. The Habs had the pieces to be a contender through the 90's.
Like you guys said we kept adding good guys as add-ons in trades. We got Turgeon, he went over a PPG for us then we flipped him for garbage. We'd have been better off keeping Muller and Schneider. How did we go from the best goalie in the league, 3 top pairing dmen, 3 number one centers(albeit none standout clear great guys) to Koivu and nothing in about 4 years?

 

[Pickles]

The Recchi trade was worse than the Roy trade. The Habs had the pieces to be a contender through the 90's.
Like you guys said we kept adding good guys as add-ons in trades. We got Turgeon, he went over a PPG for us then we flipped him for garbage. We'd have been better off keeping Muller and Schneider. How did we go from the best goalie in the league, 3 top pairing dmen, 3 number one centers(albeit none standout clear great guys) to Koivu and nothing in about 4 years?

One word...Houle. it's debatable but for me the Roy trade was far worse. We gave up a hall of fame goaltender for peanuts.

 

[Habsfunk]

The Roy trade was definitely worse than the Recchi trade. Roy was a surefire hall of famer who led the team to two Cups and was still one of the best goalies in the league, and Houle got nothing of substance for him. When we got Recchi, Leclair was still a borderline secondline winger and Desjardins was a very good defenceman, but far from one of the best in the league. The fact they both turned into elite players may be an indictment of the team's development system at the time, but landing a consistent 100-point winger for them wasn't bad.

Trading Pierre Turgeon and Craig Conroy for Shayne Corson and Murray Baron was a much worse deal than the Recchi trade.

 

[Ezpz]

I mean Thibault was at least a top 15 goalie in the league, though there were only 3-4 "game-changing" goalies in the 90's and we sold one of them. We gave up a #1D and a power forward tailor made for the 90's NHL for Recchi who dipped in production every year he was here and was then traded back for a fraction of the value.

We could have had Desjardins, Brisebois, Schneider and Rivet as a long term top 4. Plus we f***ed up every draft massively. Terry Ryan over Iginla. Matt Higgins over anyone. Jason Ward 1 pick before Hossa. Chouinard over Gagne is unforgivable because they were team mates in our back yard. Pretty damning of our scouting staff. Speaking of which our terrible attempt to remain French. Frequently wasting high picks on bad Q players and investing zero money into scouting Europe. The dynasties/contenders of the 90's ended up with their entire cores from Swedish, Czechoslovak, Finnish and Russian players drafted in late rounds.

 

[NotProkofievian]

I remember reading a Jack Todd column back in the early 2000's about how the Habs crippled themselves not only by trading good players like Roy for mediocre players like Thibault and Rucinsky, but also by adding good players as "throw-in's" on many of these lopsided deals. Keane was a very useful player who was tossed into the Roy deal almost as an afterthought. Darcy Tucker was a throw-in on a deal with Tampa which sent Stephane Richer to the Bolts for Igor Ulanov, Patrick Poulin and Mick Vukota. How would the fortunes of the Habs have been different had they retained both Tucker and Keane?

The embarrassment that was the final years of Molson's ownership before Gillette arrived have been rehashed a thousand times. Yes, it was absolutely terrible. Hall of famers moved for scraps, bleeding value like a stuck pig, sharing a farm team, ''boeuf de l'ouest.'' But now we're in the world where kids who weren't even born when some of that shit happened are making their mark on the NHL. I'm not sure what's worse, that what happened happened, or that we haven't really been able to recover from it. Spinning our tires, going from retool to retool. It's almost a perfect metaphor that the face of our franchise is a guy who can't score a f***ing goal: whose position is defined by holding on for dear life.

 

[PaulD]

If our favorite team leads the league in anything the past 30 years, it's awful trades.

and cure for insomnia games. YAWNERS

 

[PaulD]

I think Price still has a good reputation. Yes, he was bad last year, but I mean, did you see our team?
I don't believe any GM looks at his last season and puts any blame on him.
Injury concern, yea, that is more the issue. Whether he will bounce back or not isn't.

As for their fans, I'm not going to waste much time. It doesn't mean anything and I'm talking about the organization, not what their fans think.

In any event, we can move on from this now.

Inevitable. Price played for this team long enough.....he started playing like them. Poorly.

 

[BeliveauFan4ever]

Inevitable. Price played for this team long enough.....he started playing like them. Poorly.

I agree with this, 100 per cent.

Goaltenders are often rightfully credited for lifting a team.

There's a flipside...

Prolonged exposure to bad play in front of them can wear on them. How could it not?

Team plays well....no one has a better seat in the house to see it and be sparked by it than the goalie.

They need juice, too.

 

[vokiel]

Also from his 31 thoughts podcast:

Of course it's a smokescreen, Habs don't want centers who could eventually dominate the play and ask for big bucks. It's a Molson tradition.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Of course it's a smokescreen, Habs don't want centers who could eventually dominate the play and ask for big bucks. It's a Molson tradition.

It's a huge smoke screen. Buffalo is gonna take Kotkaniemi at 1 now that they know they can't get him at 32

 

[PaulD]

I agree with this, 100 per cent.

Goaltenders are often rightfully credited for lifting a team.

There's a flipside...

Prolonged exposure to bad play in front of them can wear on them. How could it not?

Team plays well....no one has a better seat in the house to see it and be sparked by it than the goalie.

They need juice, too.

Cant beat 'em . Join' em.

 

[PaulD]

Of course it's a smokescreen, Habs don't want centers who could eventually dominate the play and ask for big bucks. It's a Molson tradition.

I think you are right......It has become a "tradition". Great goaltenders, but worst center position 1 thru 4 in the entire league. Season in season out for years...........the worst.

 

[BeliveauFan4ever]

It has become a tradition. Great goaltenders, but worst center position 1 thru 4 in the entire league. Season in season out for years...........the worst.

No reasonable excuse for it, either. It would be funny if we weren't Habs fans.

 

[PaulD]

LARS ELLER scores goal that won the 2018 Stanley Cup

 

[PaulD]

No reasonable excuse for it, either. It would be funny if we weren't Habs fans.

Team has been kidnapped by Molson and MB.

 

[Zorba]

So if Friedman isn’t bullshitting, the Habs are gonna go with Drouin, Danault and probably re-sign Pleks
So you’re telling me that’s gonna be the centre core??
Ya I don’t believe that at all. Building will me empty and sponsors will be leaving quickly when TV ratings drop hard

 

[vokiel]

So if Friedman isn’t bull****ting, the Habs are gonna go with Drouin, Danault and probably re-sign Pleks
So you’re telling me that’s gonna be the centre core??
Ya I don’t believe that at all. Building will me empty and sponsors will be leaving quickly when TV ratings drop hard

Ya, that's the Patchwork Summer 2018 plan. Get ready for season ticket sales figures.

 

[Zorba]

Ya, that's the Patchwork Summer 2018 plan. Get ready for season ticket sales figures.

That’s not eveb patchwork. That’s status quo.
We won’t be good enough for the playoffs and not bad enough for last overall.
I still can’t fully buy it

 

[theghost1]

LARS ELLER scores goal that won the 2018 Stanley Cup

Yes,and pathetic players like .....Sittler,Dionne,Perrault,Sundin,Tavares,Price,McDavid,and Stamkos have never won any cups like the great Lars Eller.

 

[SakuKoivu11]

Friedman mention Buffalo looking at Pacioretty.

O’Reilly for Pacioretty?