The future is promising

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

Thursday January 15 2004 - HAMILTON (CP) - The Canadiens seem to finally have a true farm team, and Doug Jarvis appreciates Jozef Balej and his young Bulldogs' lineup. They are dominating their AHL division standing with a record of 22-14-5-2.

In a conference call on Thursday, the rookie coach was quite willing to praise his players, but he didn't want to get ahead of himself in promoting their chances to make the NHL, ready or not.

Balej, who will be 22 on February 22, is the player who draws the most attention, having climbed to third place in AHL scoring with 43 points in as many games, including 23 goals.

"Since the first day of the season he has brought leadership to the offense, Jarvis said. He works very hard and in a very professional manner. He is always one of the first to arrive, ready to go."

His speed of execution is his premier quality. As for knowing at which point he is ready for the NHL, Jarvis did not want to compromise himself.

"We have eight players born in 1982 or 1983, he answered, and all develop in a different way."

In the case of Balej, "He improves from game-to-game", Jarvis noted all the same. "He had to almost carry the offense after the recalls of Dagenais, Gratton and Plekanec, and that is what he did."

In the case of Chris Higgins, another great prospect, Jarvis spoke about a "unique situation".

"He comes from an American college and probably has already taken part in more games than he did all last season. He's learning the pro life, the three games in three nights in the American League, the bus trips...

"Same thing for Ron Hainsey, said Jarvis. He's developing.".

Bob Gainey wasn't taken to task recently for saying that Marcel Hossa was not a player who could hope to be recalled soon.

"He's still in apprenticeship, like the other young players, and they all react differently", Jarvis offered, admitting that the Slovak suffered from almost chronic inconsistancy.

The contribution of the veterans

Jarvis had good words for his veteran d-men Karl Dykhuis and Patrick Traverse, as well as for goalies Eric Fichaud and Jean-François Damphousse. The latter had caught fire after a difficult start to the season.

"They have a very good attitude, said Jarvis of the deposed NHL defensemen. Their experience helps us a lot. We have the opportunity to use veteran defensemen and goalies with our young forwards, and that is very useful to us."

Fichaud (shoulder), and Damphousse (thumb) are at present injured but should be able to play soon. Damphousse took part in the last practice and remained in uniform as a backup to Olivier Michaud, used in the last three games to good effect, according to Jarvis. The young prospect allowed only seven goals, in spite of a record of only one victory and two defeats.

Jarvis made a point of underlining the work of other young people, who work more in the shadows.

"A guy like Jonathan Ferland, he says, is not a scorer, but he is a good positional player, he is strong along the boards and he kills penalties well. And Jean-Philippe Côté, on defense, is a beautiful surprise."

Jarvis, in addition, is not surprised by the performance of Pierre Dagenais with the Canadiens since his recall: " Because he really is a natural scorer and he shoots whenever he has the chance. While with us, he was probably among the top three in the league in shots. He has this skill and a flair around the net. He formed a frankly dominant line with Gratton and Balej."

In the final analysis, Jarvis appreciates his first experience as a head coach: "It's enjoyable to coach young guys who are willing to learn, who want to learn and improve."

Four of them were selected to the American League all-star team, that is to say, Balej, Benoit Gratton, Tomas Plekanec and Mike Komisarek, and four, also, have already been promoted to the Canadiens: Dagenais, Gratton, Plekanec and Komisarek.

The world should be so well managed.

- www.rds.ca/hockey/chroniques/HOCKEYLNHCAN4007146B.html

[Disgruntled70sHab]

Love it! Balej is getting recognition that is well-deserved. And, when you have positive veterans like Dykhuis and Traverse everyone on the team wins.

The Habs also have the same environment; positive. And I feel that's the work of mainly two people and the confidence they've shown in their players; Gainey and Julien. A third person, now in the background quitely assessing and drafting his prospects, is Andre Savard.

However, I'm not surprised to hear Jarvis say that Dagenais' biggest asset is his shooting. How long have we waited for a shooter and now we have two of them; Ryder being the other. Who brought them up? Gainey. And, who is giving them their chances? Julien. And, after having seen Balej play a few times this year, he seems to be the real deal too. Who drafted him? Savard.

Gainey, Savard, Julien and a confident organization at both ends ... it doesn't get much better than that

Cheers

[snap]

It's just great to see our guys doing well in Hamilton. The record is impressive and that's without the top Edmonton prospects that we had helping last year as well. I saw a couple of minutes in a game a week ago and to see Balej was a joy. It's good to read hear that what I say was not an isolated incedent.

[BCHab]

For the first time in many years, I feel that the ship is going the right way. I'm thinking that the players know they have solid, experienced and highly qualified hockey men behind them, as Souray mentioned when he talked about Julien and Gainey recently. This has resulted in a level of confidence and level of play typical to an organization that is well led. Consider the Red Wings, the Devils, the Sens and the Avalanche.

I wonder if BG is done tweaking his coaching and scouting staff. I don't see any obvious weaknesses. Perhaps I'm too generous..

Cheers,

[Lord Stanley]

BCHab said:

I wonder if BG is done tweaking his coaching and scouting staff. I don't see any obvious weaknesses. Perhaps I'm too generous..

Cheers,

I don't think he would have much tweaking to do anymore...Gainey, Savard, Timmins, Gauthier...Not too shaby me thinks...I don't know if there is a many brains in any other organization out there...

As far as the coaching is concerned, it's still too early to tell...one year doesn't make a carreer...but it's looking good...very good


Lord Stanley

[NWTHabsFan]

What is really telling is the fact that here we are in the season after the "split" of the Hamilton Bulldogs into the existing Bulldogs and the new Toronto Roadrunners. At the mid-way point, the Bulldogs are atop their division and conference, in second place overall in the AHL. The Roadrunners are in last place in their division. The respective depths in the Montreal and Edmonton organizations in quite telling, and the Oilers have been known for having a solid farm.

As for the management team, it is hard to argue with the talent that the Habs now have guiding the ship from the front office. With CJ really just starting to get some recognition for the on-ice impacts he has made (reference the CJ praising articles in Le Journal de Montreal and in the Gazette over the past two days), the pieces are starting to fall together. Gainey's vision at the beginning of his term that players would get better whether they liked it or not, has been followed up with consistent action by both Bob and CJ, and the effects are quite amazing already. With some veteran players likely to part ways after this season, and with some roster spots and $ to play with, the all-star management team will continue to improve the team next year as well. With the young studs yet to make an impact in the bigs yet, we have a real core around which management can work.

All in all, the future is bright...you gotta wear shades (even up here in the relative darkness of the Great White North!!).

[turnbuckle]

I daresay I haven't felt this way about our future for 20 years.

There were lots of prospects to be excited about in 1983, and in a three-year period the following players made their NHL debuts in Hab uniforms: Roy, Chelios, Svoboda, Lalor, Kurvers, McPhee, Skrudland, Lemieux, Richer, Corson, Kordic and Keane.

Cassels, Lebeau, Leclair and Brunet joined the forward ranks soon after, and the defencemen just kept rolling in.

It would be hard to argue that few, if any, teams have ever produced as many quality defenceman as the Habs did over a 7-year period between 1983-1990: Schneider, Desjardins, Odelein, Brisebois, Lefebvre, Chelios, Svoboda, Lalor, Kurvers, and Dufresne all made their NHL debuts in Montreal during that period.

Obviously we don't have the prospect depth at defence we had 20 years ago, but I'm very excited about our forward depth, particularly when you consider with the development of Ward, Dagenais, Begin, Ryder and Ribeiro at various stages over the past year.

Here is a list of the Hab top forwards under the age of 27 (considered when NHL fowards reach their prime): Ward, Dagenais, Begin, Ryder, Bulis, Ribeiro, Perezhogin, Balej, Higgins, Kastistsyn, Plekanec, Urquhart, Lapierre, Milroy, Lambert, and Ferland.

That's 15 solid players/prospects, the first six are already in the NHL, the next six are really good bets to play in the league, and the last four are, to be fair, longshots to crack the Hab lineup anytime soon, but still considered to be good NHL prospects.

Even if the last five or six prospects listed never play on the Habs, it doesn't mean some of them won't be coveted by other teams over the next few years, and can be dealt for draft picks/players to keep trying to improve the overall product.

I really think the Habs are going to be one of the top five teams in quality player depth for the remainder of this decade, and it should translate to even more on-ice success as the youngsters continue to improve.


I hope the Habs can add two or three more solid defencemen in the next draft; it's my major concern at this point. Of course, another good goalie, sniper and power forward are....I'll stop there.