Hossa to Rangers for Garth Murray

[FormerLurker]

RDS

I don't know much about Murray. Anybody?

Looks like Latendresse stays!

[FormerLurker]

Garth Murray

Age: 23
Date of birth: September 17, 1982
Place of Birth: Regina, Sask., Canada
Country: CAN
HT: 6-1 WT: 205
Shoots/Catches: L
NHL Seasons: 1-R
Drafted by NY Rangers in 2001 (3/79).

ASSETS: Is a tenacious forechecker and sound defensive forward. Owns grit and aggression, which he displays all over the ice. Can play any forward position.
FLAWS: Is an extremely limited offensive contributor. Must work extra hard just to maintain a spot in the NHL because of a lack of natural talent.
CAREER POTENTIAL: Checking line forward.

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

Well, now we have a Ryder but no Hossa.

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

I assume Gainey has given up on Hossa who seems to have more upside potential than Garth Murray.
He must have known he would lose him anyways.
Gainey moves in mysterious ways.

[FormerLurker]

Hockeydb has him at 6'2" 215.

His stats show that he's only had one injury free season since he started junior. He had 182 PIMs in 55 AHL games last season. Just 9 points.

Looks like he's AHL bound, and could provide depth in case of injury. Obviously a move to clear up roster space.


1997-98 Regina Pats WHL 4 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0
1998-99 Regina Pats WHL 60 3 5 8 101 -- -- -- -- --
1999-00 Regina Pats WHL 68 14 26 40 155 7 1 1 2 7
2000-01 Regina Pats WHL 72 28 16 44 183 6 1 1 2 10
2001-02 Regina Pats WHL 62 33 30 63 154 6 2 3 5 9
2001-02 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 4 0 0 0 0 9 1 3 4 6
2002-03 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 64 10 14 24 121 2 0 0 0 6
2003-04 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 63 11 11 22 159 16 0 4 4 29
2003-04 New-York Rangers NHL 20 1 0 1 24 -- -- -- -- --
2004-05 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 55 4 5 9 182 5 1 0 1 8

Edit: just noticed on the waymoresports link above that Murray was assigned to Hartford in the AHL two days ago. So he doesn't have to clear waivers.

26 players remaining in camp. Two extra forwards and one D. One Ivanans and Vandermeer will go, and one of Streit and Hainsey. Who will be the last forward cut?

[Habit]

This comes as a shock. With his play with Bonk, I thought we had a great 3rd line. Hummmm... I think that makes room for Sunny more than "Le Taureau"

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

A more upbeat appraisal of the new Hab:

SCOUTING REPORT

A fierce competitor … Solid player who plays hard and goes to the net … Plays in the tough/traffic areas … Has a hard-working, physical style … Character player with size, strength and toughness … Uses his body to protect the puck, finish checks and get body position … Beats people with his size and strength … A good playmaker who is always looking to set up a linemate … An opportunistic scorer who is always around the opponent's net looking for rebounds and deflections … A tireless worker and excellent competitor who plays with a very energetic style.

- www.newyorkrangers.com/team/playerinfo.asp?playerid=153

[HFTO]

Not entirely surprised IMO he would never be a consistent player and obviously Gainey did as well or he would have gotten more in return.This won't be the last
curious move in the new NHL.
Hey atleast in New York the kid does get a fresh start and maybe just maybe this will give him the kick in the pants that he needs.
HFTO

[Habit]

Another Begin - Vandermeer clone with playmaking skill?

[Habfaith]

So we traded offensive potential for grit...I must say I'm a bit confused by this move. I thought Hossa looked good this pre-season.
There must be a ton of free agents floating around the AHL with this type of resume. I would've thought Gainey would have gone after a defensive prospect or a draft pick if he wanted to dump Hossa.
I guess this is one of those cases where we need to put our trust in Timmins & co. and hope they've plucked a diamond in the rough...

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

Réjean Tremblay will nominate Bob Gainey for sainthood in tomorrow's La Presse.

[FormerLurker]

Apparently, he's got wheels. He finished 2nd in the fastest skater comptetion at the CHL Top Prospects game a few years back.

link

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

formerlurker said:

Who will be the last forward cut?

The way this universe is unraveling after this trade, probably Dagenais.

A wag on another board described Garth Murray as "a country singer moonlighting as a hockey player."

[Habit]

www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=138222

Canadiens trade Hossa to Rangers

TSN.ca Staff with RDS files

9/30/2005 3:13:32 PM

The Montreal Canadiens appear ready to keep Guillaume Latendresse in the lineup, as the team has traded forward Marcel Hossa to the New York Rangers for forward Garth Murray.

Murray will immediately join the Hamilton Bulldogs, the Canadiens farm team in the American Hockey League.

Hossa, 23, played in 59 games with the Canadiens between 2001 and 2004, scoring 10 goals and nine assists. His best year in Montreal was in 2002-03, when he collected six goals and seven assists in 34 games.

Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey told TSN's sister station in Quebec RDS Thursday that the only options they have for Latendresse is playing the entire season for the Canadiens or spending another year with Drummondville of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

According to Gainey, the team has had sufficient time to evaluate his play without having to offer him a 10-game test and return him to junior afterwards.

The Canadiens are under public pressure from their fans to keep Latendresse, who has become an instant favourite in Montreal.

By sending him back to junior, the Canadiens would postpone his free agency by one year. Latendresse also has a shot at playing for Canada at the world junior championships in December.

Making the decision even more difficult was the fact that the Habs already had Hossa, Chris Higgins, Alexander Perezhogin, and Tomas Plekanec ready for NHL duty.

Hossa had to clear waivers if the Canadiens wanted to send them to Hamilton of the American Hockey League.

[Habit]

Does that interview above make sense? They started off talking about the trade and switched to Le Taureau.*

*I'm determined to get that to stick!!

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

habit said:

Another Begin - Vandermeer clone with playmaking skill?

Insurance in case Bégin blows out his shoulder again?

[Ryan]

I like it.

NY has officially become Hamilton East.

[IamCanadiens]

ryan said:

I like it.

NY has officially become Hamilton East.

You know the NHL has changed over the years when the Rangers switch from remnants of the Oiler dynasty to remnants of the Habs disappointments.

[jkr]

I was just looking at Hossa's draft class ( 2000) and with the exception of Heatley and Gaborik there are no big stars there. IMO the best player after Hossa was picked is Volchenkov of Ottawa. So I guess we can't say Houle really missed on this one.


www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl2000e.html

[BadCompany]

Ummm... yuck?

I wasn't the biggest Hossa fan, but still...

[Ryan]

Hossa has one chance to play in this league. That is as a top 2 line winger. It is still VERY much in the air as to whether that will ever be accomplished.

Murray is a pretty solid bet to be a 4th line, and possibly even a 3rd line player in the league. He's got character, grit, toughness and leadership abilities (why would Gainey like him?). I remember him playing a big part on the checking lines for Canada at the '02 WJC (6 points in 7 games) and followed his career from afar since then. IIRC he also played a part in the Svitov spitting incident...which holds very little relevance, just thought I'd share.

Hossa, Latendresse, Higgins, Perezhogin, and Kostitsyn are all projected as top 2 line forwards...something had to give.

[Habit]

jkr said:

I was just looking at Hossa's draft class ( 2000) and with the exception of Heatley and Gaborik there are no big stars there. IMO the best player after Hossa was picked is Volchenkov of Ottawa. So I guess we can't say Houle really missed on this one.


www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl2000e.html

Frolov and Ott look good to me

[Forum Ghost]

At first I thought I read Hossa for Glen Murray...

Hmmm... hard to rate this trade. I like it because it frees up some of the glut, but a defenceman would've been nice to get instead of Jim Vandermeer II.

Murray's bio says that he can play any forward position. Well maybe we could insert him onto the fourth line as a RWer.


Higgins-Begin-Murray

[Forum Ghost]

Does anyone know if Latendresse has ever played LW?

His draft bio by Bobby Mac has him listed as a LWer.

[CentreHice]

habit said:

Does that interview above make sense? They started off talking about the trade and switched to Le Taureau.*

*I'm determined to get that to stick!!

So, you'd like his nickname to be "the bull" which he could very well be...ironic that his name means "the tenderness"

Hopefully Le Taureau tenderizes many an opponent.

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

forumghost2 said:

Does anyone know if Latendresse has ever played LW?

His draft bio by Bobby Mac has him listed as a LWer.

He played LW against Tampa—his best game. Due to a shortage of centres at rookie camp they had him playing C all the way through (not the same, I know).

[duster]

badcompany said:

Ummm... yuck?

I wasn't the biggest Hossa fan, but still...

I agree...Yuck. I'm mystified. Here we are short of prospect defensemen with NHL potential and we get a guy to play the fourth line in Hamilton.

I don't get it...

[Cranky]

Where did this come from? Hossa for what? There better be more to this Murray kid then meet the eye otherwise Bob just tossed Hossa away.

[SiR]

I'm perplexed by this trade. Sure there was a logjam in our forward position. I sort of expected BG to trade away one of our forwards, but thought he'd try to shore up our D in exchange. Instead he gets another forward that could potentially be an AHL lifer. I'm hoping BG proves me wrong, but I'm disappointed in this trade.

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

habsaddict said:

Where did this come from? Hossa for what? There better be more to this Murray kid then meet the eye otherwise Bob just tossed Hossa away.

Tossed a Hossa? Could become a euphemism for a bad trade.