I remember following the Fredericton Canadiens in the mid 90's. The 2 gaolies in 1996-1998 were Jose Theodore and Thomas Vokoun. Theodore was French Canadien and chosen in the second round. He was being touted as the fans replacement for Patrick Roy. Vokoun was a 9th round pick from the Czeck Republic. I will honestly say that even back then, Vokoun was the better goalie. He had a better save percentage and I remeber the Fredericton fans constantly calling on the coach (Paulin Bourdeleau I think) to play Vokoun. But he was obviously being told to play Theodore by the Montreal brass.

To make a long story short, Montreal allowed Vokoun to be lost in the dispersal draft and went with Theodore. Vokoun recently signed a big contract for 4 years witha no trade clause and is now Nashvilles highest paid player. (save percentage of .919 and GAA of 2.67 and 4 **** outs on an average team). Theo as we all know is with Colorado (barry33 STILL wonders what favors BG owes Colorado GM). Theo's stats last year an amazing .882 save percentage, worst in league and a sparkling 3.41 Goals against average. His only shutout last year was when his girlfriend locked him out of their house after the Paris Hilton incident.

My point is this. Montreal has a history of caving into the fans and the media. NO WAY should Vokoun have been left go for nothing. And yes, he was playing very well 4 years ago as well. But GM's do not want to admit they made a mistake. Same thing happened last year. Gainey kept telling CJ to play Theo, even though Theo was costing him his job. Gainey takes over the reins, puts on his coaches hat, puts Theo back in the nets, watches painfully for 4 games as Theo smells out the joint, and goes back to Huet. Because Theo was a high draft pick and the french media wanted him.

Let this be a lesson learned. How nice would Vokoun and Huet be as a duo now? At teh very least it would have been nice to develop Vokoun further and at least getting something from Nashville in return.