Habs sign Finley

[Willie Dog]

Habs sign Joe Finley... size does matter

Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin has made a point of making his team bigger and that also seems to be the plan for Montreal’s AHL farm team in Hamilton.

The Habs announced on July 29 that they have signed veteran defenceman Joe Finley to a one-year AHL contract. The 27-year-old is 6-foot-8 and 250 pounds.

In 29 games last season with the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Finley had two assists and 50 penalty minutes. In 21 career NHL games with the New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres, he has one assist and 32 penalty minutes.

Finley, an American who played at the University of North Dakota, was selected by the Washington Capitals in the first round (27th overall) of the 2005 NHL entry draft.

Here is Finley in a fight with Prust

[NWTHabsFan]

They have been adding some depth for Hamilton this summer. Scoring forward TJ Hensick should help that brutal offence, Jake Dowell adds some leadership to a young squad, Finley adds some size and fists to the team, and they also added a couple of defenders out of NCAA. Another proven AHL scorer would likely help big time. They could even do someone on a two way deal as they do have some contract room under the 50 limit.

All of these guys are on AHL deals.