Canadiens' Problems?

[Triumph]

Audette and Czerkawski have done nothign so far in Montreal except complain... no big surprise. Now that Montreal has the storm cloud lifted from their collective heads, the whiners on that club have started to whine.. and I doubt they will stop. The fact that Saku Koivu was thought to be on his deathbed last year was a serious boon to their team spirit.. without that, the club is falling apart.

A post on another message board to explain Montreal's plight:

With increased expectations, comes increased pressure, I guess (cause, you know,

there is never any pressure in Montreal).

The dressing room appears to be on the verge of exploding, and there are many,

many disgruntled employees of the Montreal Canadiens these days. Started late last

year, during that Carolina series, when an unnamed Montreal Canadien (henceforth

known as the "rat" to the Montreal media) allegedly blew up at coach Michel

Therrien, saying "that *bad word* coach cost us the game!" By process of

elimination, that player is rumoured to be Donald Audette, a player not known for

always getting along with coaches.

In the off season, Gino Odjick, training with a bunch of NHL players at a suburban

Montreal rink, took a deflected shot from Jason Doig off the head, and suffered a

severe concussion. He cannot play, and in all likelihood his career is over. The team

is refusing to pay his contract, as Odjick did not take out any insurance policy

before conducting these informal workouts. The popular enforcer was not present

for the annual team picture.

This year, it continued with Marius Czerkawski, who after getting off to a horrid

start, complained bitterly that there was no communication between him and

Therrien, after Therrien benched Czerkawski for the first time in 5 years. Czerkawsi's

string of 200+ straight games was broken with that benching. Czerkawksi claims

Therrien never even greeted him when he joined the team, and he doesn't know what

is expected of him, and that he shouldn't be playing on his wrong side anyways.

Doug Gilmour, also off to another slow start, was moved to left wing, a position

Montreal guaranteed he wouldn't have to play if he resigned. Gilmour has avoided

the media since, with the exception of a tight-lipped "it won't last all season"

comment.

Chad Kilger then chimed in, saying that he couldn't understand why he wasn't

getting more ice time, and that he had done everything he thought the coaches

wanted him to do.

Patrice Brisebois and Saku Koivu were then caught on tape, during a recent game, in

a very heated discussion on the bench. Neither player has commented on it further.

Donald Audette, the alleged "rat" is now taking his turn in the press box. Also off to

a terrible start, Audette did not take his benching all that well, and can be seen

drawing blood from his lower lip every time a reporter approaches him. The other

day, he and Craig Rivet came to blows during a practice. He cannot be any happier

today, as he will be benched for the second straight came. Fellow complainee Chad

Kilger is also benched for this game, despite playing fairly well during the season. In

their place, the newly acquired great, Slyvain Blouin, and waiver-wire acquisition Bill

Lindsay. Blouin will be playing despite the fact that the Hurricane's enforcer, Darren

Langdon, is on a plane to Vancouver.

Yesterday, following his altercation with Audette, Rivet weighed in with the media,

stating that he fully supports Michel Therrien, and that those who have been

benched (Czerkawski, Audette) deserved it because "they weren't working hard

enough."

The only players who do seem to be getting along, strangely enough, are Jeff

Hackett and Jose Theodore.

The heat is rising on Therrien, and even on general manager Andre Savard. Therrien

appears to have lost the room, and his "let the goalie stop 40 shots" system is being

exposed for the poor coaching that it is. In my personal opinion, if Montreal loses

both games this weekend (a distinct possibility), coach Therrien will be gone by

Sunday morning.

[SueNJ97]

Here's something else interesting: last week, when told by someone that Therrien wanted to see Gilmour in his office, Doug apparently said, "Tell him to go fvck himself."

This doesn't sound pleasant.

[brylin18]

how about kilger and komisarek for niedermayer?

[Derek21]

Well, that "troubled team" won again tonight over a bad Maple Leaf team. I'd say their biggest problem is the head coach's stupidity not coming back with Theodore after a solid game against the Canes. Now that's just begging for controversy.

[SBT]

In coach Therrien's defense, Hackett has been playing well as of late.

Theodore just needed some work with the goaltending coach.

There's no goalie controversy. Theodore remains the #1 goalie.

Hackett played today because Theodore played yesterday.

['7']

czerkawski had a solid game, 3 assists, when motivated he can be a force on offense, the Habs need him to contribute.

Gilmour doesn't attend training camps anymore and sleepwalks through the beginning of the season. But he did have a solid 2nd half last season and a very good playoff.

Audette nearly lost his hand in a horrific injury last year, he came back and was a playoff hero for the Habs. He's had a slow start this year but I suspect Therrien is playing favorites here.

therrien should be outta there soon

[Triumph]

Therrien's playing favorites?

Therien wants to win, not to play favorites.

I love when people question the judgement of people like Lou or Therien and ascribe any action they take that they can't explain as "playing favorites". Audette isn't a very good player, that's why he's not playing. Considering this is the same person who probably spoke to the media, he's not exactly a team player. But that's not surprising..

Czerkawski can be a decent player when asked to contribute. He can also float, stickhandle too much, and be completely ineffective when he wants to be.

This was a huge win for the Habs tonight. But it's just delaying the inevitable.

['7']

what you say about Audette could've been said about Claude Lemieux, his playoff numbers speak for themselves. The guy wants to win, so does Therrien, but they're not on the same page. We've seen this a thousand times before.

Czerkawski might need some time to adjust, you know the media up there in Montreal will be all over guys who have slow starts, blowing things way out of proportion.

[brylin18]

czerkawski and audette will get you nowhere. these are fake score-line players, hacks, wannabe's.

[Triumph]

Audette will probably be traded to another non-playoff team.. seems to be his MO at this point.

Claude Lemieux has won 3 Stanley Cups, Audette hasn't even made a Conference final, and it's absolutely no coincedence. Don't even try to compare these two players. There's absolutely no comparison.

['7']

i'm not saying Audette is Claude, he's been injured way to much. But when he's healthy the guy does score in the playoffs, he also doesn't get along with coaches. He's not the main problem in Montreal though.

[Triumph]

When his teams make it to the playoffs, which is rare.. he's a decent scorer in the playoffs. Not worth having on your team, because he stinks in the regular season, is small, and is a coach killer. Then again, he's not good enough to get rid of the coach, usually the team gets rid of him first.

Whatever team he ends up on this year, I doubt they will make the playoffs. The Habs aren't going to make the playoffs.

Czerkawski is rumored to be going to the Rangers.

['7']

well, that's your guess, you don't like the Habs so you don't want them in the playoffs. They'll probably be a 6-8 seed.

the rangers(and islanders) are going into panic mode now, the isles are reeling from the loss of peca and czerkawski and osgoods poor play, so they need someone in their to right the ship. The Rags got burned with Rucinsky's surprise signing with St. Louis, they desperately need a wing.

I don't know, Val Bure was rumored to be gone, now keenan is saying nice things about him and he's playing better, maybe it's just more overreacting by the Montreal media.

czerkawski announced his disapproval of Therrien according to the post, I figure the next step could be asking for a trade. Therrien might want him gone but the Montreal management might not.

[Triumph]

Reeling from the loss of Czerkawski.. uh huh. Typical if A then B, well the Islanders are losing, and they lost Czerkawski who scored 22 goals.. must've been his departure that did it.

Isbister once again isn't living up to potential, Kvasha was awful, then got injured.. and neither Trent Hunter, nor Mapletoft, nor Torres has been able to step into an offensive role quite yet. That will happen. Yashin has also had somewhat of a slow start.

Montreal management should want him gone if he can't play left wing.. not worth getting rid of a guy like Petrov, who will put up 15 points less than Czerkawski but is far better in the heart department.. why the Habs dealt for a RW when they dropped a LW is hard to explain.

It's also not worth sitting an effective checker like Andreas Dackell to get Czerkawski in the lineup.

['7']

you haven't watched an islanders games have you? it is obvious they miss czerkawski! enough with the "if a then b". It's not the correct logic to use when dealing with the Isles, and the Devils. When you replace something with nothing, teams just aren't as good. I could give you a thousand examples but you probably don't want to hear it

22 goals this day in age(plus led the team in GWG) can not be made up just like that, Czerkawski also added 30+ assists and is a creative playmaker, they also need to get Peca healthy but his return won't solve all their problems. They still have nobody to play with Yashin, Czerkawski could at least do that. Right now Asham is in the press box, next stop is Bridgeport for him. Milbury had a good team last year, but it was decimated by injuries in the playoffs, Mad Mike made a rash trade in the offseason thinking it will make his team tougher and dump some salary as the islanders owners have taken some financial hits this past summer. It's backfired.

I thought it was Gilmour pouting about playing on the left wing? I think Dackell missed the game because of a foot injury.

[Derek21]

I agree with 7 on the Isles. What a disaster. Mad Mike gambled and lost. The Isles miss Czerkawski. He might not show up every game but the guy can still finish.

Tri, you just don't like Montreal, so you're counting them out.

If they get their act together, they'll be in the playoffs.

[Triumph]

This has nothing to do with preference. There's a difference between saying I don't like the Rangers and I don't like the Habs.. I don't like the Rangers because they're the Rangers, I don't like the Habs because they've gone about building their team all wrong and think that just because they happened to fluke their way into the 2nd round, they can acquire a stiff like Czerkawski and do better.

22 goals can be made up easily. If they played one of Mapletoft, Hunter, or Torres in Czerkawski's spot all year, that player would put up 15 goals. And since Czerkawski was never much interested in defense, his presence wouldn't be sorely missed. It will just take some growing pains.

Czerkawski and Yashin wouldn't fit together well. As I remember, Parrish and Kvasha played with Yashin.. Czer and Yashin are players that like to have the puck..

Mad Mike made the right move, but perhaps at the wrong time. But, on the other hand, where would he fit any young players into his lineup if Czerkawski was still playing?

['7']

Hunter is not looking very good, apparently didn't show up to camp in shape and is rumored to be on the block. Mapletoft and Torres aren't ready for 2nd line, 1st powerplay unit duty and won't be for a while, if ever. They're also both -1, Torres looks like he takes himself out of position trying to deliver the big hit, if anything they're both defensive liabilities at this point because of inexperience.

not all of these youngsters were going to make it, it was a bad time to trade Czerkawski because nobody is picking up the slack. You can have Torres getting work on the 3rd line but he's not ready for bigtime minutes yet. Right now there is no room at center, but they want Mapletoft to play so some center has to be traded. Weimer is better than Asham so Asham should be the one to go.

If you want to have Mapletoft playing significant minutes, at least give him a creative winger like Czerkawski. Right now he's got nothing to work with.

[Derek21]

Yep, that Arron Asham sure is a world beater. Milbury made a bad deal. If he was going to trade Czerkawski, he could have gotten more than a 4th line scrub.

Mad Mike really thought Kvasha would step up.

Hunter is doing well in Bridgeport. Torres and Mapletoft haven't done badly for their first NHL stints.

[Triumph]

You're absolutely right Derek. You called around the league impersonating Mike Milbury and saw all of the teams interested in Czerkawski.

Do you really think Milbury saw any potential in Asham? Of course not. He just wanted a warm body back.

Czerkawski was acquired for Dan Lacouture. GMs do not make mistakes twice. Players like Satan and Martin St. Louis can fall through the cracks once, but they are not given away twice. The league knows how worthless a player like Czerkawski is, though.

I suppose you were left flabbergasted by the Ray Whitney for Kevyn Adams deal too.

Czerkawski is not worth much more than Arron Asham. I think if he had really acquired around the league he could've gotten a good 4th liner, or maybe even a poor 3rd liner. Not very much more than that.

Look at the Hlavac deal for more support.

['7']

now milbury is going to make another rash deal to cover up for the first rash deal that shouldn't have been made. He had a good team there, but Peca's injury and poor trade have left the Isles in a bad spot.

[Derek21]

Milbury miscalculated much like your g.m. did with Zyuzin. It happens.

I don't think some of the players dealt away listed got close to the equal value they should have.

['7']

it was more salary than being "worthless" that scared people away from Czerkawski. This guy was coveted when he was making less than 1mil and scoring 30 and 35 goals a season. Now that he drops to 22 goals and his salary rises to 2.8mil, more teams will stay away. Milbury underestimated Czerkawski's importance to his own team at the moment, that was his biggest mistake.

[Triumph]

The market dictates a player's price, not the player himself. A piece of garbage scorer isn't worth anything more than a solid 4th liner or poor 3rd liner.

Look, I believe in questioning GM's decisions as much as the next guy. But when deals make this little sense, it's OBVIOUS that there's more going on here.

Hoglund was released. Sullivan was waived. Audette was traded for a 3rd round pick, then for Nelson Emerson and Kelly Buchberger, then for Kamil Piros, then for a to-be-UFA Martin Rucinsky. Valeri Bure was dealt for Hoglund, then with Weimer for Rob Niedermayer.

[Triumph]

Czerkawski isn't going to score 35 goals again unless scoring rises dramatically or he gets put on a 1st line again.

If he gets put on a 1st line again, it's clear that he's on a bottom dwelling team.

Everyone saw the potential in Czerkawski, they just didn't have the patience to give him 18 minutes of ice time a night. Edmonton had better players. The Islanders thought they had better players. Montreal has better players.