I'm not trying to bash you, but I have to disagree with a few things you call ba moves. I know Hainsey is looking ok now, but he never did anything in a Habs uniform. He was inconsistent and unhappy. As for Brisebois, i liked the guy, but he got booed every game and he hated it here. That's not what you want in the locker room (ironically, i predict Traverse will get booed too).

Gainey didnt sign D since they were overpriced this summer. Sure, he misread it with Samsonov, but what D were getting (in money and length of deals) was rediculous and we would lose cap space. It is better to wait since odds are we are not getting to the Stanely Cup this year with or without a Rafalski for a fourth round pick trade.

As for people has relationships with, if that helps him judge their attitude, one of two key skills Gainey has always been after (the other being speed), then fine.

I will stick by this, and you can always quote me on it in the future, Downey was a good pickup. He was plus on a minus team, he provided a lot of energy, he keeps up with the play, he hits hard, he wears opponents down, and if you need to be rough for a few games, he gives us that element without being a liability. No, he won't score a lot of goals, but wearing down opponents lets other guys score. DOWNEY IS GOOD FOR THIS TEAM. If it took us a few tries to find an enforcer who could do that and be a positive influence in the dressing room, then so be it.

And while I agree, he could be more astute on finding trades, I would prefer he avoids them and builds from within than gets robbed. In the salary cap world, large steps and big advantages will only come from within. Trades and signings will only provide tweaks, since they are determined by market value, and in a cap world, that means teams who compete on market value will only be average... IF they can find the chemistry. If not, then they will be out of the playoffs just like Toronto was last year and Boston will be this year.

I can still see you rating Gainey an average. I certainly won't give him top marks, but it is too easy to criticise without remembering that sometimes his hand was forced.

barry33 wrote:

---

All I will say about Gainey is this. He has been living off his good years in Dallas. I have two questions:

1. If Gainey was not an ex great hab player, would he have been cut the slack he has so far?
   
2. If Gainey did not have a cup run in Dallas (which by the way was pre-cap era when he had a huge budget) would everyone assume that he is an awesome GM?

I guess my point is that if he were say, John Ferguson Jr. and was making some of the moves he has made, would he still even be here?

---

If we were measuring Gainey the one way that matters, results, he would still be here. We were not a good team before he came, and now we are a playof team (lower tier albeit). Our team is more exciting to watch and that translates to sold out games. Our youngsters are developing, and he hasn't lost a single prospect who was looking good at the time except Balej (who has since floundered) and he got top value for him. No, we're not a dynasty yet, but we are a very young and very talented team. If our 3 young defencemen who were cut this season pan out in the next two or three years, we will be a threat in the playoffs. I think he understands that building from within is the one way to build a contender year in year out.

Ferguson traded away prospect after prospect and assembled veterans who couldn't make the playoffs. He sold their future and their present. I still don't see one Gainey move (except Traverse) that I dislike, and to be fair, Traverse is a league minimum player with a two way contract. If we sent him down tomorrow, nothing would happen. If someone else takes him on waivers, no harm done.

If you don't like the Samsonov signing, I say let's wait until he's had a week on a line that suits his skills. He needs to be with a finisher a la Ryder, Higgins, Lats, Kost, or hell, even Begin. Putting him with two other danglers was a sure way to make him unsuccessful, even if no one understood that until we saw it with our own eyes.