Canadiens killing Bulldogs

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Hamilton is on track to fall into last place overall in the AHL


By Scott Radley


If you're sitting at home thinking to yourself, Gee, this year's Hamilton Bulldogs team kinda stinks, you're right. They do. They're awful.

But if you're looking for someplace to lay the blame, hold fire on most of the overmatched players. That's because the responsibility for Hamilton having a team that's in real danger of falling into last place in the entire American Hockey League before Christmas lies with the Montreal Canadiens and its feeble attempts to ice a competitive squad.

An inability to score is one thing. Same with a fondness for the penalty box. But things really hit bottom last weekend when the Dogs dressed only 15 skaters for back-to-back games in what was truly a minor-league moment for a minor-league team. Even owner Michael Andlauer admits he was embarrassed by that one.

"I expect that with our relationship, they will provide us with 18 players and a competitive team," the frustrated owner says, stressing the second half of that sentence. "I don't expect them just to provide 18 players."

That's not happening. Five losses in a row and 11 of their last 12 prove that. And the fact that he has no say in any player decisions means he can't do anything to fix things. Which is part of the reason he's meeting with the Canadiens next week to find out if something can be changed.

In the Habs' defence, it's unreasonable to expect to have a stocked farm team every year. Can't-miss prospects aren't easy to find. Drafting is a crapshoot. Most of Montreal's best young players have recently made the leap to the big team.

That's where free agents come in to fill the void, though. Franchises that are serious about building a solid farm team start with the prospects and then build around that with AHL veterans and guys who'd otherwise be heading to Europe. Yes, that costs money, but it works. For two years now, Andlauer's said he'd be willing to spend a few of his own dollars to bring some talent of his choosing here. The Habs so far don't appear interested.

In the meantime, they've built a dinosaur for him and his fans. Just in time for the year-long 10th anniversary celebration.

As soon as the NHL lockout ended and the new rules were introduced, everyone had a pretty good idea what the new hockey was going to look like, even if only conceptually. It was going to be fast and highly skilled with a flow that would reward smart, quick, offensively gifted players. Checking and banging forwards had a place in the new game, but only if they were nimble and able to play their game without clutching and grabbing. Defencemen with some playmaking ability who could ignite the transition game and score on the power play were the prototype on the back end.

So who did the Canadiens get for the Bulldogs this offseason? Guys like Johnathan Aitken, Jeff Paul, Ryan Barnes and Garth Murray. Four slow-footed grinders who've combined for a grand total of three points in 61 games.

That's not a misprint. Three points. In the new game, three points is an OK night for one guy. But this foursome can't find the net with a compass and a guide dog. And Murray is a centre. An offensive player, in other words. Yet, he's had only one game this season in which he finished the night with a positive plus-minus rating.

Of all the skaters who are Habs' property, only Corey Locke, Andre Benoit and Ron Hainsey have excelled. And Hainsey's gone now, lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets on waivers.

If it wasn't for the players the Oilers sent here as part of the renewed split-affiliation, this team would be truly atrocious. Jean-Francois Jacques, Marc-Antoine Pouliot and Brad Winchester have largely kept this ship sort of afloat. How much? Despite playing fewer than a quarter of the man-games their Canadiens' counterparts have, Edmonton's prospects have provided more than a third of the Dogs' goals.

Nobody's demanding a champion every year. But the team has become worse in each season of the Canadiens' three years in charge.

If they aren't willing to do what's necessary to provide a decent product, they need to let Andlauer step in and try. It's hard to imagine he could make things worse.

[e-mail]

[Bob]

I feel sorry for the owner and the few faithful fans but....

This is a city that believes it is a major hockey center and deserves an NHL franchise but it averages only 4600 fans per game. Even when the team was winning it wasn't much better. It it wasn't for games against Toronto's farm teams in the past few years, average attendance would probably be below the 4000 mark.

In contrast, Winnipeg averages over 7000 fans per game.

I don't know if putting a winner on the ice would make things any better.

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

Why are you complaining? Do you want us to send you Bonk?

[duster]

Hamilton may not draw as much as Winnipeg but there is something to be said about developing players in a winning environment. How can you have this without some kind of depth? Losing a player like Hainsey on an already thin defense is not the way to do it.

[Bob]

duster said:

Hamilton may not draw as much as Winnipeg but there is something to be said about developing players in a winning environment. How can you have this without some kind of depth? Losing a player like Hainsey on an already thin defense is not the way to do it.

With the worst +/- among Bulldogs defensemen, Hainsey wasn't contributing a lot to a winning environment

[duster]

Point is, did the Bulldogs improve with his departure? Was another defenseman acquired to replace him?

How does icing a 15 player lineup help in any way?

[Cranky]

The myth of our "depth" is coming home to roost.

A few of us have screamed bloody murder every time Slow Hand Gainey mishandles assets by trading prospects for broken dildos or losing them for nothing. If Hamilton sucks then it rests squarely on Gainey shoulders. His half million dollar signing for "Vonder Bra Vandermeer" and "depth trade" for Murray must be nothing more then a love for ice grazers.

Ahh, but don't worry, we are on course for Gainey to announce a "new" 5 year plan to replace the previous two five year plans.

[Bob]

habsaddict said:

The myth of our "depth" is coming home to roost.

A few of us have screamed bloody murder every time Slow Hand Gainey mishandles assets by trading prospects for broken dildos or losing them for nothing. If Hamilton sucks then it rests squarely on Gainey shoulders. His half million dollar signing for "Vonder Bra Vandermeer" and "depth trade" for Murray must be nothing more then a love for ice grazers.

Ahh, but don't worry, we are on course for Gainey to announce a "new" 5 year plan to replace the previous two five year plans.

You know, I have to agree with you about depth. Gainey has signed guys like Danis, Lemieux and Benoit (is he signed) but I think a lot more could be done to beef up the minor league teams in order to keep the pipeline full.

Maybe the Habs should look at hiring a guy like Dan Linn. The guy does a phenomenal amount of work and probably sees more prospects (albeit many are on tape rather than in person) than a lot of scouts. He makes use of technology that enables him to see these guys in action.

And some of the guys he identified (Rene Bourque comes to mind immediately) tells me that he has an ability to find talent.

Gainey, Savard, Timmins and company seem to do well at the draft table but after that the approach seems to be ad hoc. We need to improve in the area of signing some of these college and junior free agent... especially in this world of quick free agency and seven round amateur drafts.

[Cranky]

bob said:

habsaddict said:

The myth of our "depth" is coming home to roost.

A few of us have screamed bloody murder every time Slow Hand Gainey mishandles assets by trading prospects for broken dildos or losing them for nothing. If Hamilton sucks then it rests squarely on Gainey shoulders. His half million dollar signing for "Vonder Bra Vandermeer" and "depth trade" for Murray must be nothing more then a love for ice grazers.

Ahh, but don't worry, we are on course for Gainey to announce a "new" 5 year plan to replace the previous two five year plans.

You know, I have to agree with you about depth. Gainey has signed guys like Danis, Lemieux and Benoit (is he signed) but I think a lot more could be done to beef up the minor league teams in order to keep the pipeline full.

Maybe the Habs should look at hiring a guy like Dan Linn. The guy does a phenomenal amount of work and probably sees more prospects (albeit many are on tape rather than in person) than a lot of scouts. He makes use of technology that enables him to see these guys in action.

And some of the guys he identified (Rene Bourque comes to mind immediately) tells me that he has an ability to find talent.

Gainey, Savard, Timmins and company seem to do well at the draft table but after that the approach seems to be ad hoc. We need to improve in the area of signing some of these college and junior free agent... especially in this world of quick free agency and seven round amateur drafts.

To me, the AHL team is a linear extension of the parent team. In other words, you put ALL YOUR PLAYERS on the list and then you seperate them into those who play for the big team, those who are developiing and need ice time and those who will never develop. You NEVER lose your assets and you ALWAYS try to improve. By the way, improvement is not limited to trading Dag's for Lacavalier, improvement also comes from upgrading your third liners, 5th and 6th defenseman, etc.

What was wrong with picking up Huselius? NOTHING! It's not like we have a full roster. Besides, if he can't make it on the Hab's, you can always send him down and if he doesn't make it through waivers, no loss.

Sure, the rules are stacked against freely moving your AHL'ers up and down the big clubs roster but hat is ONLY if you sign them for more then $75,000.

[Bob]

habsaddict said:

To me, the AHL team is a linear extension of the parent team. In other words, you put ALL YOUR PLAYERS on the list and then you seperate them into those who play for the big team, those who are developiing and need ice time and those who will never develop. You NEVER lose your assets and you ALWAYS try to improve.

Couldn't agree more. A successful team really needs to be constantly developing talent (Jeff Paul and Vandermeer wouldn't be considered talent in my books). They also need to identify the talent that needs to be developed. It seems like we are taking half measures in both these departments.

By the way, improvement is not limited to trading Dag's for Lacavalier, improvement also comes from upgrading your third liners, 5th and 6th defenseman, etc.

What was wrong with picking up Huselius? NOTHING! It's not like we have a full roster. Besides, if he can't make it on the Hab's, you can always send him down and if he doesn't make it through waivers, no loss.

Again, I agree. A team should always look at building depth in addition to developing talent internally. And if it can do so in an efficient and economic manner (Huselius) why not.

[montreal]

bob said:

habsaddict said:

The myth of our "depth" is coming home to roost.

A few of us have screamed bloody murder every time Slow Hand Gainey mishandles assets by trading prospects for broken dildos or losing them for nothing. If Hamilton sucks then it rests squarely on Gainey shoulders. His half million dollar signing for "Vonder Bra Vandermeer" and "depth trade" for Murray must be nothing more then a love for ice grazers.

Ahh, but don't worry, we are on course for Gainey to announce a "new" 5 year plan to replace the previous two five year plans.

You know, I have to agree with you about depth. Gainey has signed guys like Danis, Lemieux and Benoit (is he signed) but I think a lot more could be done to beef up the minor league teams in order to keep the pipeline full.

Maybe the Habs should look at hiring a guy like Dan Linn. The guy does a phenomenal amount of work and probably sees more prospects (albeit many are on tape rather than in person) than a lot of scouts. He makes use of technology that enables him to see these guys in action.

And some of the guys he identified (Rene Bourque comes to mind immediately) tells me that he has an ability to find talent.

Gainey, Savard, Timmins and company seem to do well at the draft table but after that the approach seems to be ad hoc. We need to improve in the area of signing some of these college and junior free agent... especially in this world of quick free agency and seven round amateur drafts.

Yes hire Dan Linn! ;D I like that idea very much, working for the US Postal Office sucks, I could get used to getting paid to watch hockey games.


Just wanted to point out that it's really more Savard's job then Gainey's since it's Savard who runs Hamilton. He's the one that first went after Danis (and here I thought Gainey had read an article I wrote for Habsworld, saying they should sign Yann Danis and Rene Bourque ) Savard also was the one that signed Lemieux, Benoit, Cote, Sanford, all got deals with the Dogs first. Sanford did get an NHL contract first but Savard resigned him to a AHL deal. I heard that Savard was the one who convinced Benoit to sign with Hamilton over the summer, and I've heard him during interviews speak very highly of Benoit.

As for the article, what a steaming pile of crap. I agree the team has not been the same since the intial year, but that was one of the best AHL teams I've seen. The past two seasons the team has been solid, and made the playoffs. I would love to see the team be better, as I am a big Bulldog fan (just as I am a fan of every team that has any Hab prospect on it) I want to see the Dogs always be good and win games, but I know that the reality is that the bigger goal is to develop the prospects.

This year we are one of the youngest teams in the AHL, I figured the team was going to be in big trouble as soon as I heard Danis was going to miss a large chunk of the season (since it was rumored to be till january) They needed more of a veteran presence, so Gainey got Aitken, Paul, Vandy, Murray and Savard added Barnes on a tryout but he was released. Those are some pretty crappy vets if you ask me, aside from Murray who I like, but they had to bring in some vets.

This year the system is a little thin since there's next to nothing in the ECHL aside from Halak who's had two injuries and missed most of the season after a great start. Urquhart has decent skills but his lack of strength and fear of getting hit it's hard to say if he would be effective in the AHL. I was at his first and only AHL game last year in philly and he hardly touched the ice and looked scared whenever he was out there. (of course philly spent most of the game running around knocking players down or running into them) Bonneau is likely the future tough guy in Hamilton, don't know how his game is doing in Long Beach this year, havent' seen them play yet. Larrivee wasn't resigned, too bad cause I thought he was ready to make the jump to Hamilton this year, now he leads the team in scoring. Last year he was always working hard, doing the little things right but wasn't scoring that much. Now that most of the top players are gone from last years team, guess he has to do a lot more.

It happens, at times you just don't have the bodies to fill an AHL roster. Next year we have a number of guys that can be signed. Chipchura, Greg Stewart, Mathieu Aubin, Alex Dulac-Lemelin, Loic Lacasse, Ryan Glenn plus it's the first year Euro's have to be signed. All picks from the '02 draft and piror have to be signed or we lose their rights. From '02 Korneev and Linhart are the only Euro's that have to be signed or we lose their rights. Plus there's guys like Heino-Lindberg, Grabovsky, Korpikari, Emelin, O'Byrne, who might be ready to make the jump if the Habs wanted to bring them over (or up in O'Byrne's case) and if they wanted to come over since Grabovsky did say he wanted to stay 2 years in Russia, if he hasn't changed his mind. O'Byrne may want to finish out his final year at Cornell before making the jump. Korpikari lost most of last season with injuries and his time spent with the National army. Heino I assume would want to wait and see what his team does with the starter, if they bring him back he'll likely not see much ice time, so perhaps he'll want to make the jump. I am not saying all of these players would, could, or should make the jump, just saying that perhaps this past summer Gainey/Savard didn't feel these guys were ready to make the jump but if they continue to play well perhaps they will look into maybe getting some of this guys over here.

So Hamilton will have to suck it up. It's not like they have been going to the games outside of any Hamilton-leafs games. Since the Habs have been in Hamilton I've been to a bunch of games, watched a ton on tv/ppv and listened to as many games as possible. This year the team will struggle unless changes are made and I wouldn't expect huge changes. Will they make the playoffs? Is this really in the best interest of the prospects? Time will tell. Has Gainey made mistakes losing Hossa and Hainsey? not imo. I liked the Hossa deal much more then most seem to. Skill wise it was a brutal trade but Murray is a great choice to work with the younger guys in Hamilton. I look forward to seeing what kind of impact he has on Mad Max Lapierre. Not saying I wouldnt rather have Hossa with the Habs then Murray in Hamilton but I never expected the team to carry all of Perezhogin, Pleks, Higgins, Hossa, Streit, Hainsey, so you have to cut some guys and other teams will gladly pick up the scraps. Funny I never heard anyone complain when we got Steve Begin for free, or even Franky Bubbles. It works both ways, we lost Hainsey and would have lost Hossa for nothing, so Bob got something in return, something we needed badly in Hamilton, which short term doesn't really show the impact but long term could have an impact. An example would be when Savard picked up Eric Fichaud. People laughed at the signing but Savard got a vet to work with Garon. I heard Garon talk about how big of a help Fichaud was in his career right before he made the jump to the NHL full time. Not saying this will happen again, or that it's all Fichaud, but it helps to have experienced vets and Murray has experience plus he's always working hard.

Hainsey is so much like Hossa. Tons of natural skills but can't put it all together. I fear Kostitsyn is going to follow in their footsteps. Hainsey and Hossa can wow you with their play but at other times be the most frustrating guys to watch. I hope they can make it in the NHL but I had little hope of either making it with the Habs, not cause of their skills but because they dont' fit the mold of the kind of players the team is trying to groom.

Overall who's to say what the impact will be for guys like Locke, Cote, Archer, Milroy, Lambert, Kostitsyn, Lemieux, who are all seeing increased ice time then they would if more vets were on the team. Although Archer is now out for a while and Lambert has been jerked around in the lineup but that's no surprise since he doesn't always want to work hard imo. Hopefully one or two of these guys will really benefit from this time. Watching Kostitsyn on the PK and playing the point on the PP, makes me interested to see how it impacts him down the road (3 years or so)

[Cranky]

montreal said:

It happens, at times you just don't have the bodies to fill an AHL roster. Next year we have a number of guys that can be signed. Chipchura, Greg Stewart, Mathieu Aubin, Alex Dulac-Lemelin, Loic Lacasse, Ryan Glenn plus it's the first year Euro's have to be signed. All picks from the '02 draft and piror have to be signed or we lose their rights. From '02 Korneev and Linhart are the only Euro's that have to be signed or we lose their rights. Plus there's guys like Heino-Lindberg, Grabovsky, Korpikari, Emelin, O'Byrne, who might be ready to make the jump if the Habs wanted to bring them over (or up in O'Byrne's case) and if they wanted to come over since Grabovsky did say he wanted to stay 2 years in Russia, if he hasn't changed his mind. O'Byrne may want to finish out his final year at Cornell before making the jump. Korpikari lost most of last season with injuries and his time spent with the National army. Heino I assume would want to wait and see what his team does with the starter, if they bring him back he'll likely not see much ice time, so perhaps he'll want to make the jump. I am not saying all of these players would, could, or should make the jump, just saying that perhaps this past summer Gainey/Savard didn't feel these guys were ready to make the jump but if they continue to play well perhaps they will look into maybe getting some of this guys over here.

Some of the guys should have made the jump over the ice grazers. I don't mind losing if it is for a purpose. There is no shame in losing while the kids are learning to round out their game.

Secondly.....

I strongly believe in bringing people up to the next level to learn. I see NO reason why Gui and Chips are playing in the minors. I see NO reason why Price can not play for Hamilton. Sure, he will play second fiddle to Danis but so what? He is part of the Hab's organization and I rather see him get coaching instructions from Rollie then some coach/cook/truck driver. I am sure that a few more prospects are more talented and can develop much further then AHL lifer like Vandy.

To top it off, we are losing WHILE we are teaching someone else's prospects.

BTW, if the counter argument is "lack of money", then it will make my shorts even tighter. The owners and particularly the Hab's are RAKING it in.

Could the real reason be.....

We don't have more prospects in the AHL is because of the 7/25 rule. Why bother bringing them in younger if we are going to lose them earlier? Let them develop somewhere else until they are twenty. Even if that means they are developing at half speed. Does it make business sense? Yes. Will the parent team get players faaster? No. Does it develop the prospects faster? No. Does it make the fans happy? No.

[BadCompany]

Seems Andre Savard is as good at building an AHL team as he was at building and NHL team...

(HA, Chipchura, Latendresse, and Price all still have junior eligibility left in them - they can't play in Hamilton until their junior teams have been eliminated, even if Gainey wanted them to - dems da rules)

[Cranky]

badcompany said:

Seems Andre Savard is as good at building an AHL team as he was at building and NHL team...

(HA, Chipchura, Latendresse, and Price all still have junior eligibility left in them - they can't play in Hamilton until their junior teams have been eliminated, even if Gainey wanted them to - dems da rules)

Am I missing something (besides my sanity)? Is there a reason why those three could not be playing in the AHL?

Hereis the way I see it.....from the beginning of the year.

Hainsey and Gui (Hossa) in

Dag's, Hossa (Gui) and Ivan's AHL

Chips and Price AHL

The team has FIVE more players developing at break neck speed (I wish : and Dag's available for call up....err....filler...err....warm body.

Now we have three players developing at half sped and Murray doing squat.

BTW, I don't buy the "St. Savard at fault" explanation. Gainey is his boss and the buck stops THERE.

[montreal]

habsaddict said:

badcompany said:

Seems Andre Savard is as good at building an AHL team as he was at building and NHL team...

(HA, Chipchura, Latendresse, and Price all still have junior eligibility left in them - they can't play in Hamilton until their junior teams have been eliminated, even if Gainey wanted them to - dems da rules)

Am I missing something (besides my sanity)? Is there a reason why those three could not be playing in the AHL?

Hereis the way I see it.....from the beginning of the year.

Hainsey and Gui (Hossa) in

Dag's, Hossa (Gui) and Ivan's AHL

Chips and Price AHL

The team has FIVE more players developing at break neck speed (I wish : and Dag's available for call up.

Now we have three players developing at half sped and Murray doing squat.

BTW, I don't buy the "St. Savard at fault" explanation. Gainey is his boss and the buck stops THERE.

It's called the CHL rule. The CHL did not want to lose it's top drafted players to the AHL so they came up with the CHL rule which states that only guys over 19 or 4 full years in the CHL can play in the AHL. Price and Latendresse can't play in Hamilton for two years. Chipchura can be added to Hamilton at the end of this season as soon as Prince Albert's season is over.

As for Savard he is the GM of Hamilton, so the blame has to be directed at him and Gainey.

[Cranky]

montreal said:

habsaddict said:

Am I missing something (besides my sanity)? Is there a reason why those three could not be playing in the AHL?

Hereis the way I see it.....from the beginning of the year.

Hainsey and Gui (Hossa) in

Dag's, Hossa (Gui) and Ivan's AHL

Chips and Price AHL

The team has FIVE more players developing at break neck speed (I wish : and Dag's available for call up.

Now we have three players developing at half sped and Murray doing squat.

BTW, I don't buy the "St. Savard at fault" explanation. Gainey is his boss and the buck stops THERE.

It's called the CHL rule. The CHL did not want to lose it's top drafted players to the AHL so they came up with the CHL rule which states that only guys over 19 or 4 full years in the CHL can play in the AHL. Price and Latendresse can't play in Hamilton for two years. Chipchura can be added to Hamilton at the end of this season as soon as Prince Albert's season is over.

As for Savard he is the GM of Hamilton, so the blame has to be directed at him and Gainey.

And the AHL/NHL recognises this rule? Isn't that keeping players from making a living? So where would Gui go if he didn't cut it in the NHL AFTER he waskept? The ECHL?

[montreal]

habsaddict said:

montreal said:

It's called the CHL rule. The CHL did not want to lose it's top drafted players to the AHL so they came up with the CHL rule which states that only guys over 19 or 4 full years in the CHL can play in the AHL. Price and Latendresse can't play in Hamilton for two years. Chipchura can be added to Hamilton at the end of this season as soon as Prince Albert's season is over.

As for Savard he is the GM of Hamilton, so the blame has to be directed at him and Gainey.

And the AHL/NHL recognises this rule? Isn't that keeping players from making a living? So where would Gui go if he didn't cut it in the NHL AFTER he waskept? The ECHL?

It comes from the NHL as part of their last contract with the CHL. There is a new contract between them but I don't know what the new rules are or if they just kept the old rules, so things may have changed. Last year the CHL allowed a few under age players to play in the AHL but there also wasn't a contract in place with the NHL, so I don't think they had a lot of ground to stand on.

As for where Latendresse would go if not with the Habs, he has to go back to the Q, cause the Volts own his rights outside of the Habs. He can't play in the AHL or ECHL since they are pro leagues. I would guess that the Habs could send him to a Euro league but I'm not really sure if they can or cant since I don't recall it being done by any Hab prospects.

[NWTHabsFan]

montreal said:

Yes hire Dan Linn! ;D I like that idea very much, working for the US Postal Office sucks, I could get used to getting paid to watch hockey games.

Sounds good, sign him up!!

Just wanted to point out that it's really more Savard's job then Gainey's since it's Savard who runs Hamilton. He's the one that first went after Danis (and here I thought Gainey had read an article I wrote for Habsworld, saying they should sign Yann Danis and Rene Bourque ) Savard also was the one that signed Lemieux, Benoit, Cote, Sanford, all got deals with the Dogs first. Sanford did get an NHL contract first but Savard resigned him to a AHL deal. I heard that Savard was the one who convinced Benoit to sign with Hamilton over the summer, and I've heard him during interviews speak very highly of Benoit.

I like the free agent signings, and I was surprised Tardif did not get signed after a good rookie camp and what I could read, a good Dogs camp. We may see him after the Petes are done, but they are on a serious roll right now.

As for the article, what a steaming pile of crap. I agree the team has not been the same since the intial year, but that was one of the best AHL teams I've seen. The past two seasons the team has been solid, and made the playoffs. I would love to see the team be better, as I am a big Bulldog fan (just as I am a fan of every team that has any Hab prospect on it) I want to see the Dogs always be good and win games, but I know that the reality is that the bigger goal is to develop the prospects.

Kind of glad they let the kids play. Other teams stock their AHL teams full of guys who will never see the NHL except on the NHL network. Montreal cuts those guys loose. Good plan IMO.

This year we are one of the youngest teams in the AHL, I figured the team was going to be in big trouble as soon as I heard Danis was going to miss a large chunk of the season (since it was rumored to be till january) They needed more of a veteran presence, so Gainey got Aitken, Paul, Vandy, Murray and Savard added Barnes on a tryout but he was released. Those are some pretty crappy vets if you ask me, aside from Murray who I like, but they had to bring in some vets.

The youngest actually. Guys like Paul, Aitken and Vandy are real HA ice grazers. You win some (Begin, Danis) and you lose some (those dog eared door knobs). Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

This year the system is a little thin since there's next to nothing in the ECHL aside from Halak who's had two injuries and missed most of the season after a great start. Urquhart has decent skills but his lack of strength and fear of getting hit it's hard to say if he would be effective in the AHL. I was at his first and only AHL game last year in philly and he hardly touched the ice and looked scared whenever he was out there. (of course philly spent most of the game running around knocking players down or running into them) Bonneau is likely the future tough guy in Hamilton, don't know how his game is doing in Long Beach this year, havent' seen them play yet. Larrivee wasn't resigned, too bad cause I thought he was ready to make the jump to Hamilton this year, now he leads the team in scoring. Last year he was always working hard, doing the little things right but wasn't scoring that much. Now that most of the top players are gone from last years team, guess he has to do a lot more.

Interesting that the Ice Dogs kept Larrivee. I would expect him to get an AHL contract with the Dogs next season as he is showing up a number of much more experienced ECHL guys down in South LA.

It happens, at times you just don't have the bodies to fill an AHL roster. Next year we have a number of guys that can be signed. Chipchura, Greg Stewart, Mathieu Aubin, Alex Dulac-Lemelin, Loic Lacasse, Ryan Glenn plus it's the first year Euro's have to be signed. All picks from the '02 draft and piror have to be signed or we lose their rights. From '02 Korneev and Linhart are the only Euro's that have to be signed or we lose their rights. Plus there's guys like Heino-Lindberg, Grabovsky, Korpikari, Emelin, O'Byrne, who might be ready to make the jump if the Habs wanted to bring them over (or up in O'Byrne's case) and if they wanted to come over since Grabovsky did say he wanted to stay 2 years in Russia, if he hasn't changed his mind. O'Byrne may want to finish out his final year at Cornell before making the jump. Korpikari lost most of last season with injuries and his time spent with the National army. Heino I assume would want to wait and see what his team does with the starter, if they bring him back he'll likely not see much ice time, so perhaps he'll want to make the jump. I am not saying all of these players would, could, or should make the jump, just saying that perhaps this past summer Gainey/Savard didn't feel these guys were ready to make the jump but if they continue to play well perhaps they will look into maybe getting some of this guys over here.

I would expect to see Chip, Stewart, Aubin, D'Agostini and Gleed (nice nostalgic thought about Glenn) get a good look and likely a contract. Dulac and Lacasse are likely outside looking in. As for other guys, Linhart, Korneev, O'Byrne, Korpikari and Emelin would be better than those AHL fodder we signed. Also, I expect the Habs to make a push for Grabovski as I really think he is our closest NHL ready guy, even ahead of countryman Kostitsyn. Yikes, oh for that tenth pick back again.

O'Byrne is having a great year. Bodes well in another year. Big guy who can skate and with lots of ice time on both the PP and PK. Boy, do we need a bunch of them.

So Hamilton will have to suck it up. It's not like they have been going to the games outside of any Hamilton-leafs games. Since the Habs have been in Hamilton I've been to a bunch of games, watched a ton on tv/ppv and listened to as many games as possible. This year the team will struggle unless changes are made and I wouldn't expect huge changes. Will they make the playoffs? Is this really in the best interest of the prospects? Time will tell. Has Gainey made mistakes losing Hossa and Hainsey? not imo. I liked the Hossa deal much more then most seem to. Skill wise it was a brutal trade but Murray is a great choice to work with the younger guys in Hamilton. I look forward to seeing what kind of impact he has on Mad Max Lapierre. Not saying I wouldnt rather have Hossa with the Habs then Murray in Hamilton but I never expected the team to carry all of Perezhogin, Pleks, Higgins, Hossa, Streit, Hainsey, so you have to cut some guys and other teams will gladly pick up the scraps. Funny I never heard anyone complain when we got Steve Begin for free, or even Franky Bubbles. It works both ways, we lost Hainsey and would have lost Hossa for nothing, so Bob got something in return, something we needed badly in Hamilton, which short term doesn't really show the impact but long term could have an impact. An example would be when Savard picked up Eric Fichaud. People laughed at the signing but Savard got a vet to work with Garon. I heard Garon talk about how big of a help Fichaud was in his career right before he made the jump to the NHL full time. Not saying this will happen again, or that it's all Fichaud, but it helps to have experienced vets and Murray has experience plus he's always working hard.

Hossa and Hainsey...had their chances.

Hainsey is so much like Hossa. Tons of natural skills but can't put it all together. I fear Kostitsyn is going to follow in their footsteps. Hainsey and Hossa can wow you with their play but at other times be the most frustrating guys to watch. I hope they can make it in the NHL but I had little hope of either making it with the Habs, not cause of their skills but because they dont' fit the mold of the kind of players the team is trying to groom.

The class of 2000. What a shame.

Overall who's to say what the impact will be for guys like Locke, Cote, Archer, Milroy, Lambert, Kostitsyn, Lemieux, who are all seeing increased ice time then they would if more vets were on the team. Although Archer is now out for a while and Lambert has been jerked around in the lineup but that's no surprise since he doesn't always want to work hard imo. Hopefully one or two of these guys will really benefit from this time. Watching Kostitsyn on the PK and playing the point on the PP, makes me interested to see how it impacts him down the road (3 years or so)

I see that guys like Lemieux seem to thrive in getting more ice time. Sure, likely no Mario or Claude, but a good catch for next to nothing. Mathieu Roy, Jonathan Matsumoto and Jamie Tardif would have worked for me as well. I really won't mind bidding adieu to Paul and Aitken. Did they really think they were good enough to cut the mustard?