Saks and Selanne!

AB Habman · Guru

Saks and Selanne!

Jedah · Guru

I too think that Gainey should have pursued Selanne. But at the time, it seemed like a waste. Who was that going to displace? Zednik? In the offseason, who could forsee that he would have an off year? I guess Gainey just didn't want to tie his hands with another veteran who may not play well.

JohnM · Guru

See Rangers and many other teams who surrounded their stars with fellow countrymen and are showing success. Dallas has a bunch of Finns and see how they are doing.

plouf · Guru

Jedah wrote:

I too think that Gainey should have pursued Selanne. But at the time, it seemed like a waste. Who was that going to displace? Zednik? In the offseason, who could forsee that he would have an off year? I guess Gainey just didn't want to tie his hands with another veteran who may not play well.

Note that Zednik continues to stink up the joint in international play as well. What is UP with this guy this year?

Chris68 · Veteran Member

absolutely true. What a disappointment Zed is this year. Within the Slovak team he seems to be one of the weakest links. Sad but true, it's not Zeds year.

barry33 · Guru

JohnM wrote:

See Rangers and many other teams who surrounded their stars with fellow countrymen and are showing success. Dallas has a bunch of Finns and see how they are doing.

Just another example of the teams having to cater to a bunch of spoiled millionaire athletes.."I will try much harder if you go out and get a bunch of countrymen to play with"

JohnM · Guru

barry33 wrote:

Just another example of the teams having to cater to a bunch of spoiled millionaire athletes.."I will try much harder if you go out and get a bunch of countrymen to play with"

Yup, whatever it takes to win... You have become a very bitter poster of late Barry. You definetly need a vacation from this sport. Curling might be more up your alley.

barry33 · Guru

JohnM wrote:

barry33 wrote: Just another example of the teams having to cater to a bunch of spoiled millionaire athletes.."I will try much harder if you go out and get a bunch of countrymen to play with" Yup, whatever it takes to win... You have become a very bitter poster of late Barry. You definetly need a vacation from this sport. Curling might be more up your alley.

Not bitter Johnny..hungover..tired..but not bitter. Fed Up with spoiled millionaires. I call them like they are. 20 years ago players played for the love of the game and Belliveau did not care if you put him on a line with John Candy and Steve Martin. He played just as hard. Why? Because he was proud to wear the jersey and he realized what a privlege it was to play the game for a living. All of us love the game. Some of us have been lucky enough to play it at a high level while some others have never played the game. But we all have one thing in common. We are fans and we have a passion for the game. And, I dare say that every one on this board would leave their current careers and play NHL hockey for 1/4 of what most of those guys make.

I do not blame the players. I think it is society in general. We have become "entitlest". Playing the game for the guys, in their mind, is a right and not a privilege.

JohnM · Guru

I hear you Barry but aren't you the one who said to stop living in the past?

Habtastic · Guru

I agree with ya' Barry and I don't think it is living in the past, John. There are heart and soul players scattered across the league from all nations who are proud to wear their jersey. Because of the heritage of our team, I believe we need to be more careful in our selections and make sure we take guys who will live up to it. One of the reasons I believe we tend to look for more Quebecois, French or English, is because it is believed that they truly understand the history and commitment it takes to wear the Habs logo and will play harder, better, because of it. That is why it is always such a great dissapointment when they don't.

As for Selanne, as far as I have heard and from what Koivu has said, they tried very hard to bring him to Montreal, but he really wanted to sign with the Ducks.

Habtastic

barry33 · Guru

JohnM wrote:

I hear you Barry but aren't you the one who said to stop living in the past?

Not living in the past..only revisiting it so that we can understand how we got to where we are today. By the way, one thing that is common in most of these "surround me with guys I like and I will perform better" cases is the fact that they are Europeans. I suspect this has as much to do with differing styles of play as much as culture.

Key Lime · Guru

Someone actually said it, we do believe the Habs need a few more Quebecers (French/English /Whatever). for that matter I correct myself, I believe we just need a few more North Americans on the Habs. many foreigners, once drafted, or traded for, say that they understand the history and commitment it takes to wear the Habs logo. THEY MAY UNDERSTAND IT BUT DO THEY BELIEVE IN IT? How can you? You have to have in your blood.

I just think if we had more Bouillons, Begins, Higgins on our team, we wouldn't have to wonder if the team will give an effort or not each game.

barry33 · Guru

Key Lime wrote:

Someone actually said it, we do believe the Habs need a few more Quebecers (French/English /Whatever). for that matter I correct myself, I believe we just need a few more North Americans on the Habs. many foreigners, once drafted, or traded for, say that they understand the history and commitment it takes to wear the Habs logo. THEY MAY UNDERSTAND IT BUT DO THEY BELIEVE IN IT? How can you? You have to have in your blood. I just think if we had more Bouillons, Begins, Higgins on our team, we wouldn't have to wonder if the team will give an effort or not each game.

I believe that Saks has it in his blood. He has been there long enough and the effort he shows for the most part, indicates he dearly wants to win. However, I would go so far as to say that Zednick and Kovalev could care less about the tradition of the sweater they wear. What is very clear is this. The more Eurpoeans you have on a team the more difficult it becomes to achieve team chemistry. Here you have a Finnish Captain, A Russian assistant (taken over from a Slovakian assistant) and 2 Canadians. Quite a melting pot. And yes of course other teams have this issue to deal with and have done it well. In Rangerland it took bringing in half the Czeck Republic to make it work. In Montreal, we have all those nationalities and you throw into the mix the strong french Canadian issue, and you have a dressingroom ripe for the formation of cliques and division. One message has been sent by Gainey signing Koivu. The Captain is here to stay so those who do not wish to get along and play nice will not be around.

Key Lime · Guru

barry33 wrote:

I believe that Saks has it in his blood. He has been there long enough and the effort he shows for the most part, indicates he dearly wants to win. However, I would go so far as to say that Zednick and Kovalev could care less about the tradition of the sweater they wear. What is very clear is this. The more Eurpoeans you have on a team the more difficult it becomes to achieve team chemistry. Here you have a Finnish Captain, A Russian assistant (taken over from a Slovakian assistant) and 2 Canadians. Quite a melting pot. And yes of course other teams have this issue to deal with and have done it well. In Rangerland it took bringing in half the Czeck Republic to make it work. In Montreal, we have all those nationalities and you throw into the mix the strong french Canadian issue, and you have a dressingroom ripe for the formation of cliques and division. One message has been sent by Gainey signing Koivu. The Captain is here to stay so those who do not wish to get along and play nice will not be around.

Not to throw you flowers Barry but that is the most insightful answer I've read in a while. Keep it going...There is no room for cliques if your goal is to go all the way. Look at Calgary...one goal away.

plouf · Guru

Re: the money.

I'd clean toilets for a quarter what these guys make.

Re: the team chemistry thing.

Almost every Scandanavian I've ever met grew up watching and playing hockey and knows as much about the NHL as I do. They follow this league and they know what being a Montreal Canadien means. So that's probably not the problem.

I don't think it's so much that they are Europeans, or that guys are saying "surround me with guys from my country and I'll play better" (although I wouldn't put it past Kovalev)...it's just that there are so many different countries and languages and styles of play that it gets confusing. Communication is what a team is all about, so it must be tough on kids like Markov, Perezhogin, etc...when they first show up and try to learn the ropes and they can't even TALK to anybody.

People keep bringing up Dallas and their Finns, the Rangers and their Czechs. Maybe this is something to think about...maybe Montreal should take a page from them and try to assemble a bunch of guys from a few different countries, not seven or eight.

Re: the captain

Barry's right. Whatever's going on in the dressing room, and whether or not Koivu is to blame, he just got a vote of confidence. Those who don't like it will probably be moved or silenced. Whether or not we like Koivu this is probably a good thing for getting the team on one wavelength. And it seems to have already produced results.

Habtastic · Guru

Key Lime wrote:

Someone actually said it, we do believe the Habs need a few more Quebecers (French/English /Whatever). for that matter I correct myself, I believe we just need a few more North Americans on the Habs. many foreigners, once drafted, or traded for, say that they understand the history and commitment it takes to wear the Habs logo. THEY MAY UNDERSTAND IT BUT DO THEY BELIEVE IN IT? How can you? You have to have in your blood. I just think if we had more Bouillons, Begins, Higgins on our team, we wouldn't have to wonder if the team will give an effort or not each game.

I don't know if you were referring to me that we should have more Quebecois, but if you are, that is not what I said. I said that we generally expect more from our Quebecois, seeing as they are locals, but you could be a player from Timbuktoo (sp) and care more for the team than all the locals combined. All I want is players who care and who are willing to bend to make sure the chemistry that is needed is there. It is nice to have a few locals, but I don't care if the rest of the players are from Mars, as long as they care and work hard at the game and in the dressing room to make things positive.

Habtastic