Playoff Predictions (But why bother?):
East
Buffalo over NY Islanders in 4
Ottawa over Pittsburgh in 6
New Jersey over Tampa Bay in 5
NY Rangers over Atlanta in 6
West
Detroit over Calgary in 5
Anaheim over Minnesota in 7
Vancouver over Dallas in 7
San Jose over Nashville in 7
Habs get knocked out of the playoffs, Saku Koivu gets ripped apart. As normal a part of a Montreal spring as piles of dog shit and cigarette butts. Oh, what I wouldn't give for the opportunity to rub some faces in that dog poo. Bravo to Bob Gainey for his strong public defense
of Koivu. Who knows what makes a champion more than a champion himself?
Instead of a dozen questions about Samsanov and Kovalev I wish somebody had asked Gainey about the availability of Belfour or CuJo at the trading deadline. Most encouraging comments I heard were Gainey suggesting that virtually every move in the off season will be about improving The Habs-at the NHL level. Enough with the prospects. Teams that need draft picks and young players (Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, Florida, Phoenix, Columbus, St Louis, Los Angeles and maybe Edmonton) can look at Gainey's two first round picks and impressive stable of young talent and play "Let's Make A Deal".
Pierre Boivin calling for a superstar? We hear Boivin is pissed at Le Journal de Montreal for making the front page story appear as an exclusive when it was in fact, Boivin speaking in the stands, in what he thought was an off-the-cuff conversation. Anyway, who doesn't want to see a superstar here? Like trading Kovalev. Easier said than done.
Bottom line on Koivu & Gainey: They have earned and deserve more respect than anybody else active in hockey in this town. Not immunity from criticism. But RESPECT.
Pronunciation: ri-'spekt
Function: nounEtymology: Middle English, from Latin respectus, literally, act of looking back, from respicere to look back, regard, from re- + specere to look -- more at SPY1 : a relation or reference to a particular thing or situation
More questions to ponder while we wait for Ron Fournier and Michel Villeneuve, among others, to be hauled away in straitjackets:
How can Wayne Gretzky look in the mirror and like what he sees after the firing of his long time agent/advisor Mike Barnett as GM in Phoenix?
How happy is Michel Therrien knowing Kerry Fraser didn't make it into the playoffs?
Can the NY Yankees win every game 8-7?
If Dave Winfield was "Mr. May" does that make A-Rod "Mr. April"?
What's the over/under on losses by the Washington Nationals this season? 110?
Now that two major sponsors have pulled out of his radio show (Staples, Proctor & Gamble) how many days does Don Imus have left in commercial radio?
George Bush instead of Al Gore???
How much longer before Sydney Crosby, like Gretzky and Mario, becomes ineligible for playoff pools?
Philip Roth or Saul Bellow?
Favorite Montreal Playoff moments:
1. Jacques Lemaire beats Tony Esposito from center ice in 1971
2. Ken Dryden save on Jim Pappin 1971
3. Henri Richard tying and winning goals 1971
4. Jean Beliveau winning Cup in his last game 1971
5. Dryden and Habs upsetting Boston Bruins (399 goals) in 1st round 1971
(yeah, '71 was THAT special)
6. Bruins too many men penalty followed by Lafleur goal 1979
7. Lambert game winner in OT (assisted by Tremblay & Houle) to win '79 semifinal
8. Patrick Roy 10 overtime wins 1993
9. Patrick Roy overtime win in New York 1986
10.Canadiens dethrone Flyers 1976
Some of Saku Koivu's teammates in previous non-playoff seasons:
Shayne Corson, Craig Rivet
Martin Rucinsky, Vladimir Malakhov, Benoit Brunet, Turner Stevenson, Brian Savage, Stephane Quintal, Eric Weinrich, Patrice Brisebois, Richard Zednick, Jan Bulis,
Sergei Zholtok, Jonas Hoglund, Igor Ulanov, Scott Thornton, Dainius Zubrus, Trevor Linden
Patrick Poulin, Jason Dawe, Scott Lachance, Matt Higgins, Dave Morissette, Oleg Petrov, Karl Dykhuis, Craig Darby, Jesse Belanger, Jim Cummins, Aaron Asham, Jason Ward, Juha Lind, Christian Laflamme, Barry Richter, Miroslav Guren, Trent McCLeary, Chad Kilger, Jim Campbell, Eric Landry, Xavier Delisle, Patrick Traverse, Johan Witehall, Andrei Bashkirov, Francis Belanger, Eric Chouinard, Andreas Dackell, Donald Audette, Joe Juneau, Randy McKay, Nicklas Sundstrom, Mariusz Czerkawski, Marcel Hossa, Bill Lindsey, Sylvain Blouin, Gord Dwyer, PJ STOCK
Just like those Habs teams of the 70's, huh?
