Go Habs Go - Fan Forum 10/11

[Davey Boy 2.0]

me too

[Guest Low Roller]

Waste of a point.

Word is that Weber is in the line-up today, but no word who is going to sit out.

Hey remember Dustin Boyd? Me neither.

[Guest Low Roller]

PK Subban is officially in Martin's poophouse and is sitting out today in favour of Weber.

[Tissue Man]

PK Subban is officially in Martin's poophouse and is sitting out today in favour of Weber.

seems a bit harsh but he certainly was poor last night.

[Booche]

I like it and I would consider going a step further by putting Cammalleri beside him.

[Guest Low Roller]

I think that the Subban benching has more to it than just one bad game.

There was also a lot of talk about "selfish play" after the game last night, but no names were mentioned. Related?

Also, if anyone should be sitting it's Gomez as he doesn't seem to be clicking with anyone this year. We have a problem Houston.

[Booche]

Not clicking with linemates is a far cry from someone looking disinterested and not trying.

[Guest Low Roller]

Tony Marinaro said that Markov is going under the knife again and that his season is done. Nothing shocking there.

@TonyMarinaro: The surgery will be performed in Birmingham, Alabama by Dr James Andrews, arguably the most renowned orthopedic surgeon in the world.

F'n Staal.

Edited December 3, 2010 by Low Roller
edited to remove word 'confirmed' from a secondary source.

[MattyC]

I'm going to wait for confirmation on this

[Guest Low Roller]

Yep. No official announcement from the team yet, however a meeting between Markov's agent Don Meehan, Pierre Gauthier, and the doctors who diagnosed Markov was supposed to happen today.

[Booche]

I'm going to wait for confirmation on this

God bless and may the Force be with you.

[Guest Low Roller]

Here it is

[MattyC]

Oops, forgot the purple. Shitty news though. Tony had this story before it happened!

[Booche]

Oops, forgot the purple.

That's more disappointing than the Markov confirmation.

None the less, Our Glorious now have some MAJOR wiggle room. It's kinda shocking to think about. I can only hope Pierre Gauthier doenst do anything too rash, although I am confident they have known for some time they would be able to put Markov on LTIR. Everything seems to be going fine with Les Brahs thus far. Dont fix what aint broke unless a wicked deal comes along that you cant pass up.

[Booche]

Probably fairly close to what we are all thinking as Hab fans.

In the pre salary cap NHL, perhaps the Canadiens could show some loyalty to Andrei Markov come July 1 and give him a rich contract in the hopes he will fully recover from the knee surgery he will undergo in Alabama next Wednesday.

But even though Pierre Gauthier says in the Canadiens statement announcing the surgery Friday that, "we are very confident that Andrei will be able to fully recover from this injury," in all honesty, I don't know how justifiably confident he can really be.

And that's a very important question to ponder as Markov will be racing towards unrestricted free agency on crutches after undergoing his second reconstructive surgery on his right knee in a span of just over seven months.

Again, if there was no salary cap, the Canadiens could give Markov a rich contract, maybe hedge their bet by cutting the number of years, and everyone would be happy.

But mistake contracts are debilitating in the salary cap era, and there will need to be some real soul searching done before deciding whether or not Markov will be back in Montreal next season.

Soul searching on the part of Gauthier as to whether Markov can survive the rigours of playing over 100 games a year, which is the amount any team with Stanley Cup aspirations hopes to play. As to whether he is still worth $6 million a year for multiple years, because at that price, Markov had better be durable.

And there will also need to be some soul searching done by Markov and his agent Don Meehan as to their expectations, as to what the market will bear for a defenceman who remains in his prime in terms of age, but appears past it in terms of his body.

These are hard questions to consider right now, mere minutes after official word finally filtered out in traditional Montreal Canadiens style (e-mail received at 5:19 p.m. on a Friday afternoon with information they've surely had for days). But they are definitely questions that need to be asked and answered by the Canadiens brass over the coming months.

While they ponder over the answers to those questions, one would hope they take a cold, objective look at the situation and not one mired in sentimentality.

It's alright for fans to say Markov should be re-signed at all costs, that he's one of the best draft picks this organization has made in decades, that he is a dynamic talent that is difficult to replace, that they love him.

But unfortunately, the cap era can sometimes penalize that kind of blind loyalty.

And that's a shame, because for Markov to end his time in Montreal limping on the sidelines would be a sad end to what has become an exceptional run for him in this city.

[Guest Low Roller]

[color:purple]We can probably get Kovalev and Koivu back as rental players with the cap space we have now.Throw in Souray.

If there is a silver lining here is that this might make the decision to sign Gorges slightly easier, however it doesn't make up for the fact that we lost one of the best defencemen in the league.

Lots of questions surrounding our D-corps going into next year with Gill, Hamrlik, Markov, and Gorges up for new contracts, and to a lesser extent Picard and Weber. The Goat better know what he's doing.

[Booche]

I wouldnt have said this midway through the summer but my confidence with the Goat is definitely building. He's looking almost brilliant. I sure hope this trend continues.

[MrBigTime]

I wouldnt have said this midway through the summer but my confidence with the Goat is definitely building. He's looking almost brilliant. I sure hope this trend continues.

What brilliant move are you talking about that he has made since the summer?? We have acquired zero since... Halpern?

[Guest Low Roller]

Win!

Pretty dull game to watch, but it's certainly good to take the two points.

[Booche]

What brilliant move are you talking about that he has made since the summer?? We have acquired zero since... Halpern?

You're kidding, right?

[Guest Low Roller]

What brilliant move are you talking about that he has made since the summer?? We have acquired zero since... Halpern?

Well there is the O'Byrne trade for one. It's looking promising now, but only time will tell how Gauthier fared in this trade.

[Guest Low Roller]

Scored a hat trick in his final FINAL retirement game.

[Booche]

Leclaire tonight!

[Guest Low Roller]

Leclaire tonight!

Might as well play Lafleur in that case!

[MrBigTime]

Leclaire tonight!

Might as well play Lafleur in that case!

Elliott is injured (DTD) according to yahoo, but I doubt any Sens fans are really paying attention to this team anymore to clarify this...