Niinimaa predicts Habs win over Sabres

MC Girl · Guru

Niinimaa predicts Habs win over Sabres

barry33 · Guru

Dumb..dumb..dumb..dumb...dumb..dumb...dumb...dumb...dumb...dumb...dumb....

You never give the opposition something to motivate them,..not that Buffalo needs motivation. But no matter how confident you are and how you feel, you keep that to yourself. Hopefully Carbo has talked to Ninny and told him to keep his trap shut in the future. I like his confidence but....

adam13 · Member

I love this man...the Habs need to have a little edge on their game a little bit of swagger. GO HABS GO!

blank17 · Newbie

I think he's right. Everyone's gotta lose sometime, and I truly think Montreal's forwards can stand toe-to-toe with Buffalo's, speed-wise. If Huet has a big game, we could definately shut them down. And the guys have to be feelin; good, after scoring 8 the other night.

4-3 Habs

barry33 · Guru

blank17 wrote:

I think he's right. Everyone's gotta lose sometime, and I truly think Montreal's forwards can stand toe-to-toe with Buffalo's, speed-wise. If Huet has a big game, we could definately shut them down. And the guys have to be feelin; good, after scoring 8 the other night.

4-3 Habs

Well if the habs win tonite he looks like a hero..if they lose and the Sabres say after the game how motivated they were because of his statement..he looks like an idiot. Stay tuned.

salted_one · Veteran Member

dumb yes my thoughts exacly barry a team as good as that you don't want them goin in to shut you up cuz they can and they will he needs to learn to keep his comments for teams who aren't undefeated. on the bright side they beat 2 bad teams before tonight and they might be used to playin bad teams. if we hit em hard and early we may have a chance. and with our special teams as good as it is we just have to stay disiplined. Niinimaa better hope that we can back up HIS mouth or he'll be the next target for the montreal media

Ando · Guru

What a loud-mouthed idiot!

...this guy had better show-up BIG...or else!!!

Why on Earth would anyone do such a foolish thing!?

Traveling Hab · Veteran Member

It seems like he is playing high stakes poker, but I can see one huge benefit to this. If we win, it will provide a huge boost to Montreal, both with the fans and the team, and if we lose a close fought battle it will be soon forgotten.

The only way this will provide a big negative is if we get blown out, and that should not happen. We can skate with these guys.

At the same time I think it was stupid, since it will motivate the Sabres and make them virtually unbeatable, but I can see at least one positive point beyond Niinimaa's confidence.

MC Girl · Guru

Newest article...

TSN.ca Staff with RDS files

10/23/2006 1:02:24 PM

With just one regulation loss in their first seven games and a thrilling comeback victory on Saturday against Jose Theodore and the Colorado Avalanche, the Montreal Canadiens are playing with a lot confidence.

Enough confidence for defenceman Janne Niinimaa to make a bold prediction for the team's Monday matchup at the Bell Centre with the first-place Buffalo Sabres.

"The Sabres are playing well right now," Niinimaa told reporters at Sunday's practice. "But they are going to lose a game, and it's going to be on Monday."

The Canadiens are 4-1-2 in their first seven games with 10 points, while the Sabres are undefeated in their first eight games and lead the league with 16 points. The Sabres also lead the NHL in scoring with 42 goals.

The Sabres look to improve to 9-0 on the season and earn their 14th straight victory overall going back to last season.

Buffalo matched the team's best start of eight consecutive wins, set by the 1975-76 club, with a 6-2 victory over Boston on Saturday. The win extended the Sabres' franchise-best winning streak to 13 regular season games.

The teams met at HSBC Arena in Buffalo on Oct. 6, a game in which the Sabres scored twice in the final five minutes to complete the comeback with a 5-4 shootout victory over Montreal.

If the Canadiens become the first team to hand the Sabres a loss this season, they may have to do it without Radek Bonk. The veteran centre left practice on Sunday with back spasms and is questionable for Monday's game. The Canadiens have called up centre Maxim Lapierre from Hamilton of the AHL.

Cristobal Huet will start in goal for Montreal, while Ryan Miller will get the call for Buffalo.

Files from RDS were used for this report.

-- Edited by MC Girl at 16:38, 2006-10-23

Hockey100 · Veteran Member

barry33 wrote:

Dumb..dumb..dumb..dumb...dumb..dumb...dumb...dumb...dumb...dumb...dumb....

You never give the opposition something to motivate them,..not that Buffalo needs motivation. But no matter how confident you are and how you feel, you keep that to yourself. Hopefully Carbo has talked to Ninny and told him to keep his trap shut in the future. I like his confidence but....

I agree, not a good move.

ScottishHAB · Veteran Member

Come on folks- the Sabres can't win every night.We're playing well enough to give it a good go tonight.

Muller93 · Guru

Unfortunately, i think Ninny's mind was in the right place. Nothing wrong with a little swagger. What he did not anticipate is that in media crazed Montreal...this story becomes huge...

And yes...Bufalo will use it to motivate themselves...YIKES! I don't like the sounds of a motivated sabres team

Ando · Guru

Muller93 wrote:

...i think Ninny's mind was in the right place. Nothing wrong with a little swagger.

The trouble is Mulsey is that this loud-mouthed Finn has nothing to back-up his yap with!

For example, he had better hope that Komi and/or Shelley are willing to bail him out...unless he plans on instigating a good ol'fashioned tickle fight with the likes of Taylor Pyatt!

wright · Veteran Member

Maybe Niinimaa was out of line, but still it is a refreshing attitude. Last season after Hasek shut out the Canadiens and said it was his easiest shutout ever, the Habs meekly accepted his statement. A little bit of swagger does not hurt....if you can back it up. Hey, this is an OCTOBER game, not a critical game down the stretch.

If there ever was atime to be able to back up your comments, tonight would be the night, the Sabres are playing their third road game in four nights.

MC Girl · Guru

I honestly think that he was tryin' to pump up his own team & in doin' so might pumped up the Sabres. I'm givin' him the benefit of the dount & sayin' that he didn't think about possibly givin' the Sabres that "let's get 'em" bait.

Pablo Honey · Veteran Member

I always hated the "well they can't win EVERY game!" logic. It never made any sense to me. When a team is hot, you don't bet against them because they are "bound" to lose. Odds are, they're bound to keep winning if they stay on form.

Obviously the Sabres won't win all 82 games this year. But when have the Habs performed well against the Sabres? I don't even remember the last time we won a season series outright.