who has to make the team

macneil · Guru

who has to make the team

11rings · Member

Carbonneau has some tough decisions coming up.. many of the youngsters seem ready... but who sits and who is put on waivers (if necessary). I prefer Kostitsyn over perezhogin anyday, he bring more to the table but I'd like to keep both of them, but how??

Lines i would like to see:

Ryder - Koivu - Higgins

Kovalev - Plekanec - Samsonov

Latendresse - Ribeiro - Kostitsyn

Johnson - Bonk - Begin

Spares:

Murray, Downey, Perezhogin

If Ribeiro doesn't respond this year, he should sent packing ... Chipchura looks awesome in the games i've seen, i think we can step in for ribeiro anytime. Downey is a waste of a body, but we do need a physical presence on certain nights so he'll step in from time to time.

plouf · Guru

I definitely want to see at least 2 of Murray, Begin and Downey on the team. No way you can rid of two of those guys, since they are the only pure grit players we have.

Obviously we have a logjam at forward, but that's a luxury.

Whether we like it or not, the following are givens:

Kovalev, Ribeiro, Samsonov, Ryder, Higgins, Koivu, Johnson, Plekanec, Bonk, Begin

That leaves 3 spots, maximum, and you have to ask how useful for Latendresse or Kostitsyn's development it would be to have them play fourth line and/or get scratched repeatedly. It is not great to rush young players, and the bottom line is you can't just casually discard your veteran investments. We are a bit overloaded on the wings, and so there will be tough decisions. But someone will get injured, and these guys will get their chance.

Patience. That's Bob's approach. And as frustrating as it can be, it's not going to change anytime soon. I'm looking for steady improvement this year, and a settled lineup. So - yes to Perez, Murray and Downey. And no to Kostitsyn and Latendresse. I know that won't be popular, but that's my opinion at this point on what will happen. Montreal media or no. No point in discarding a talent like Perezhogin.

Either that or a trade.

Diehardhabsfan · Veteran Member

Get rid of Downey, he is 5 shades of useless!!!

Nil d · Guru

11rings wrote:

Carbonneau has some tough decisions coming up.. many of the youngsters seem ready... but who sits and who is put on waivers (if necessary). I prefer Kostitsyn over perezhogin anyday, he bring more to the table but I'd like to keep both of them, but how??

Lines i would like to see:

Ryder - Koivu - Higgins

Kovalev - Plekanec - Samsonov

Latendresse - Ribeiro - Kostitsyn

Johnson - Bonk - Begin

Spares:

Murray, Downey, Perezhogin

If Ribeiro doesn't respond this year, he should sent packing ... Chipchura looks awesome in the games i've seen, i think we can step in for ribeiro anytime. Downey is a waste of a body, but we do need a physical presence on certain nights so he'll step in from time to time.

Not bad, 11 rings! I'd like to see that LRK line kept together; they were dynamite last night.

But if Downey is a waste of a body (which I agree, despite his banter with me last night*), why not have Chipchura as a spare?

* which he did not deliver on. I asked him if he was going to "drop 'em" in the game, and he replied "How about McGrattan?" - but he never did drop 'em.

Fatherhab · Senior Member

plouf wrote:

I definitely want to see at least 2 of Murray, Begin and Downey on the team. No way you can rid of two of those guys, since they are the only pure grit players we have.

Obviously we have a logjam at forward, but that's a luxury.

Whether we like it or not, the following are givens:

Kovalev, Ribeiro, Samsonov, Ryder, Higgins, Koivu, Johnson, Plekanec, Bonk, Begin

That leaves 3 spots, maximum, and you have to ask how useful for Latendresse or Kostitsyn's development it would be to have them play fourth line and/or get scratched repeatedly. It is not great to rush young players, and the bottom line is you can't just casually discard your veteran investments. We are a bit overloaded on the wings, and so there will be tough decisions. But someone will get injured, and these guys will get their chance.

Patience. That's Bob's approach. And as frustrating as it can be, it's not going to change anytime soon. I'm looking for steady improvement this year, and a settled lineup. So - yes to Perez, Murray and Downey. And no to Kostitsyn and Latendresse. I know that won't be popular, but that's my opinion at this point on what will happen. Montreal media or no. No point in discarding a talent like Perezhogin.

Either that or a trade.

I hear what you are saying Plouffe, but which one of our rookies has demonstrated more ability at this stage to make the step ahead of Latendresse. If Gainey has a plan, then he has to bring some of these young lads into the fold, give them some experience, and it is a win/win situation all around. A still believe that we are a couple of players away from going deep into the playoffs, so rather than signing some useless free agent who has had a a couple of good years in the League, and then thinks he is worth 3-4 million bucks, sign the young lads, and pick and choose when you put him/them in game situations. Latendresse for example may falter, which I won't be disappointed if he does, but to send him back to Junior is wasting away a year of experience getting him closer to a full time job in the NHL.