BREAKING NEWS: Jaroslav Halak Traded to St. Louis Blues

dude first relax and take a chill pill, you have know clue how this will turn out. the speculation metre is a bit to negative right now. yes he caught everybody by surprise, but if you look very close at the intent behind the trade you'll understand. we'll take a look at the centre first, Lars Eller: well for one he's 6'1 and 200 pounds that can rip it, second he's played profesional in europe in one of europe elite hockey leagues, third finally a centre that is over 5'11, 4th off he's fuckin dainish (sorry that had nothing to do with my anitdote, just sounds cool), 5th off he might have a greater impact this year because his transition to the north american hockey was last year, now he knows what expected hear in North America, oh did i forget to say he's 6'1 and a centre!!!!!!!!!!!

now i know that Ian Schultz is a no name right now but he has great cridentials in the NHL, big brother Jeff is rockin the congress in the washington DC with OVI. if he's anythiong like his brother ill take him, the guy supposedly hits like a train, and fights like a wolverine. he is fast and at 6'2 208lbs and only 20 years old the better days are still to come. on top of all that he's putting points on the board with a stagering 150 pim, come on we should just relax.

finally look at the characteristics of the players what do they have in comin, size, there big bodies. big forwards. great skaters, great hands, heart. Schultz is supposed to fit the same mold as Byfuglien, Lucic, Jackman and Backes. don't there young and are only going to get bigger and stronger with time.

we should all relax, look at the big picture, nobody knows of the offers montreal got for Halak, maybe there was just nothing there, maybe most teams didn't offer anything and were going to give an offer sheet and we would have lost hime for nothing because the price would be too high. there is alot of situations that could have happened, i rather this than nothing.

What do you think?

Schultz is good, on all levels. The guy is big and can throw his weight around, plus he is solid on the PK and can pot a few when called upon. He isnt afraid to drop the gloves as well. He is a leader through and through, and reminds me a little of Nystrom. Not sure Montreal acted correctly in dealing away the "better" goaltender, but clearly there was a reason that Halak was traded, whether he didnt want to play in MTL(speculated by Dreger on TSN) or that MTL had their minds made up before the playoffs even started on who they were gonna trade.

I still think its the wrong decision and Montreal could really be hitting themselves next year if Price folds under the pressure...which he seems to do when faced with heat from the MTL media...just a thought and I could be wrong because I am very far from the situation out here in the west.

Btw, for some odd reason, the firewall of the Universistad Autonoma de Barcelona does not like your website. I have to use You-Freedom to bypass it...

@ Prax : "Eller is not going to replace plekanec next season, and he's too good offensively to be a 3rd line player

First, Halak was never gonna fetch us an established replacement for Pleky. Not with the actual market for goalies. Second, Eller has played wing before, and he surely would not do worse than A. Kost. If we can miraculously get A. Kost. salary off the book, then he can fill in. If Pleky goes and a top 6 winger comes in, he can center that line.

"And Vinster, if we're more than 1 piece away from the Stanley Cup, does that mean that management shouldn't be thinking about trying to improve on last season? Does it mean they should forget about this year as a write-off?"

I believe I explained this in the previous post as well. You have to improve from last year, of course. But that includes not losing other pieces of the puzzle, or not losing the ability to replace pieces of the puzzle that might be leaving. Yes, I'm talking about Plekanec. The choice was likely "Price and Pleky/replacement", or "Halak". Which one sounds better? I agree that the goal is to win the Cup. Although realistically I don't see that for next year, I most certainly hope for another miraculous run crowned with #25, and I will probably once again predict they'll win the Cup just like I've been doing for the past 10 years. But there are a lot of holes to fill, and you need cap space to fill those holes. Sadly, Halak was expendable.

"I'm not going to sit here and tell you which players should have been packaged with Halak in return for which players, that's pointless."

Well, I'm glad you won't. Because outside of Halak, our bargaining chips are rather non-impressive. It's pretty much all crap we want to get rid off and hoping they still have some value. Some sort of garage sale where you hope you'll hit jackpot...

"All I'm saying is that RIGHT NOW, this deal does not help the 2010-11 Montreal Canadiens, and the excuses Gauthier gave were BS."

And I think it's probably too early to pass judgement, but does anyone believe we could have gone into another season with these 2 goalies? The situation was already pretty bad this year, can you imagine how it would have been next year? One of them had to go, and Halak was going to fetch us the biggest reward.

"And again... I never said that I wanted the team to tank the season to get a higher draft pick. That just simply is untrue and made up."

Look, that's not even the point, but you did hint that it would not be a bad thing, as a lot of other fans did. And since I consider Habs fans to be pretty knowledgeable (well, in most cases), that means that the evaluation for this team is that we're not as close to winning a Cup as our Cinderella run might indicate. I could even come up with the quote on this, since I've just checked it out. I can PM it to you on this other site if you wish.

@ Prax : "No, I never hinted, said, or implied that we should tank the season to earn a higher draft pick. Again, you're likely misconstruing something I posted, which seems to be a pattern with you."

And you seem to be mistaking me for prock, but whatever. Just tell me how this sounds, in a thread entitled "The Official Tank the Rest of the Season Thread" :

"I don't understand why it would be blasphemy. One can cheer for his team while wanting them to lose. Ever heard of accepting a loss in a company so you can make a profit over a longer period of time in the future? Are you satisfied with breaking even every year? "

And there was also that bit :

"I think people who can't see the bigger picture beyond winning a game doesn't deserve to be a fan. Sure, I love it when they win games, but honestly, they're better off cleaning house and starting from scratch, because this team is mediocre at best beyond a few pieces, and cap strapped going into the next few years. It's not a matter of getting one good draft pick really, but if you want to play that card, it worked for Pittsburgh, Washington, Chicago, and they're right up there with Detroit and New Jersey. It's a matter of building your team properly, and you can't do that if you finish between 8th and 10th place every year."

So tell me... where should we finish in the standing, then, to build properly? That's two minutes of time I'll never get back looking around in one very moronic thread after being called a liar on a VERY MINOR side-argumentation that wasn't even that relevant to the whole point. Satisfied?

Back to the point, where you seem to be arguing that Gauthier is Gainey #2 based on... well, not much. You're making a case of saying this trade is retarded because it does not help us right now, while saying it was fair. You say it reeks of rebuilding, but then again, we've got a pretty interesting core locked up long term which screams otherwise. You call it useless, yet you can't seem to give us a hint about what you would have expected. You're basically saying "it sucks" without indicating an alternative. You go all out, hot headed about how Gauthier probably didn't do this or that or whatever, yet there's no actual research or argumentation there except your own negative opinion of the guy.You say that this move puts pressure on Price while it's been pretty obvious that the guy has been at his best when no one was breathing on his neck.

I respect the fact that people might not like this trade. I respect the fact that they do not think like me. But I do expect people to be able to back up their opinions with something. You usually have a sound argumentation, Prax. But on this one, I have trouble following you. If you think Gauthier could have done better, or gotten a better return for Halak, then explain me how. Because as of now, you're mostly ranting with empty hands.

Prax I'm with you re: Gautier. I don't like this move for the same reasons you do in that it means more waiting, more hoping, more faith and no payoff anywhere within the near future. I've been saying for months I like both goalies and wanted to keep both, however unlikely, but because I don't like this move I'm automatically labelled a Halak fanboy and a Price hater.

It's not the trade itself that's upsetting me so much today - it's the fans who think that my opinion is less valid or outright stupid because it conflicts with the Habs management and/or their own. I'm being told to chill, be patient, look at the upside. Hey, I've been doing that for going on 18 years now. I want to see some progress and I don't mean POTENTIAL to progress another 2-3 or 5 years from now.

This moving out of proven players to take chances on cheaper ones that the organization HOPES and has FAITH in because of all the amazing POTENTIAL does not inspire my confidence in the Habs' ability to contend for the Cup - not only next year (my immediate concern) - but for years to come.

Boucher is no longer around to work his mojo on these two prospects. People pointing out that Eller and Schultz are the best the Habs have lined up since Carey Price are not selling them to me. I'm STILL waiting for Carey Price's potential to equal the required faith of the past 3 seasons. He was rushed and he has a strong skill set and I like him, but I want him to start earning his 2nd silver platter into the Habs net. I don't see why that's too much to ask.

Hey, Chipchura, Daigle and AK and SK all had this amazing potential as well. So does Pouliot. When exactly does all this potential magically come together anyway? Is there a backup plan if it doesn't? These are long term projects, and if they fail to pan out in 3 years time and the Habs don't actually ice their Cup contender then what? You stick with Price anyway? You stick with Eller and Schultz? Or do you go out and get more prospects and the superstars of the day and roll the dice again, because there'll always be cap issues.

Trading away prospects you've managed to successfully develop within your own organization, particularly when said organization does not have a good track record of achieving that, does not sound like a good plan to me. It comes across more like shooting the team in the foot. Want to build a solid and strong young core only to trade pieces of it away and take your chances the next crop will be bumper? Where's the logic?

I really don't think this means an automatic Pleks resigning just because suddenly there's all kinds of cap space, and unless it's Marleau the Habs manage to sign (HA HA!), anyone else on the FA market is a downgrade IMO. This close to FA, logic and his agent would likely dictate Pleks testing the market, where he's likely to be grossly overpaid. Goalies might be an easy buy right now, but solid 2 way centremen are scarce.

Anyway, my issues are not with the trading of Halak, and not even with the return. It's what the team is likely to do with this trade, which is continue on in the same vicious cycle. And that to me is not an improvement. And that is why I hate it.

@ Prax : "And it's not a matter of what I would have done instead, those are your words, your questions, NOT MINE. This team's deficiencies are glaring, and you don't really need me to point them out to you, but if you truly don't see them, then a physical top six forward who can score goals and hit? A physical defenseman that can counter-balance a Markov or Subban? A gritty 3rd line forward who can, again, hit and provide energy? Why do we need to label them with names? We don't know who's truly available and who the Canadiens have their sights on, and it's not my job to tell you who Gauthier should or shouldn't have traded for."

The problem is, Prax, that we won't be able to comment on all that before the end of July. If this is Gauthier's only move, then I'll have to agree that although the trade was fair, the whole summer strategy was dreadful. However, I don't believe the Habs are done. Do you?

Also, I don't care about made up trades : I just want to know what kind of player you would have liked for Halak. Give me a comparative, anyone, really. Of course you're not a GM, and no expects you to have GM-like connections. But simply saying "they should have obtained something to help them now" without giving a hint about what type of player you think Halak could have fetched, well, it looks like you're ranting for the sole purpose of ranting. So that's why I'm asking: what did you expect? A Jeff Carter type of player? A Taylor Pyatt type of player? What?

"... a physical top six forward who can score goals and hit" is a pretty expensive tool nowadays in the NHL. Halak was never going to fetch us that, although Eller might develop into just that type of player. "A physical defenseman" is also pretty expensive nowadays, especially if he can skate. To fit in the Habs system, this dman would have to be able to skate, and have a pretty decent first pass. Halak was not going to fetch you that either. "A gritty 3rd line forward who can, again, hit and provide energy?"... well, really, why would you waste your "top trading asset" on a player almost every team already has? I am not a big Lapierre fan, but you have to admit that when he plays like he's capable of, he is just that player. He had a terrible season this year, but he can get back to his former self I believe. Otherwise, well, Hamilton is pretty much filled with third liners, and I'm pretty sure finding one on the open market wouldn't be that hard either.

Eller is a gamble, but the reward can be potentially high, and if he is NHL ready (which his AHL numbers seem to indicate, although we always have to be careful with that...), he could in fact help the Habs this year. Honestly, I don't think we were ever going to fill the holes you mentioned by trading Halak or Price. Not in today's goalie market. I know you don't like the word "potential", but even though you want to improve the team now, you also have to think long-term. The Detroit Red Wings did not stay so good for so long by just thinking "short-term".

The Halak move was a cap move, whether you like it or not. Of course they didn't have cap space before, but signing Halak would have killed any breathing room they had, however small it already was. There was no way the Habs were going into next season with two goalies, and there was no way they were keeping Halak over Price when you can be sure Jaro is going to be much more expensive than Price while not necessarily better. With that, Jaro's future was sealed. The Habs don't have more "cap space", as you say, but that's one player they won't have to resign while obtaining a cheap and potentially very good player for him.

I'll say it again : if this is Gauthier's only move, it will be dreadful. But I believe it's quite too early to say he'll drive the team to the ground and start ranting about how bad our management is. The Halak move, as well as the comeback, was highly predictable. Now Gauthier has to focus on our other needs, and I'm sure we'll see more action.

@ Tyg :

The whole "Halak vs Price" fan war was completely dumb from the start. While I have a problem with known Halak fanboys claiming that the Habs don't respect their fans, I do respect the fact that some people might not like the trade, although I don't realistically see what else could have come out of this. Basically, you and Prax seem to fear that the Habs will not get better over the summer. Isn't it slightly too early to conclude that, based on "Gauthier's history" etc etc etc, and that after only one trade that most people knew was coming, not even two weeks into the offseason?