T minus 102 hours till puck drop. Still no black guy in sight.

So am I the only one nervous about this whole standoff thing between Bergevin and PK?  I mean, the kid wants a long term deal (let's say 6 yrs) and the Habs would rather give him a 2yr deal to have him cement himself as an elite Dman before they make him the best paid player on the team.  Seems to me like there is plenty of room to negotiate.  Unless of course Bergevin and Meehan take their compromising lessons from Bettman and Fehr.  If that's the case, then expect PK back sometime in April.

Something is definitely fishy.  Does the kid really want to stay here?  If he did, would he not take a 4yr deal? I mean the Habs can't afford to lose him, but I can understand a reluctance to sign him to 6 or even 8 years right away.  Don Meehan has done this often enough to know what the kid is worth and that holding out into the season is bad for everyone.  Maybe there's more to this story.  Perhaps Meehan slept with Bergevin's wife while PK videotaped it and now it's awkward.  Or maybe they all went to see Django together and Bergevin got carried away and started dropping N-Bombs.  Because if everything was honky dory, there's no way it would take this long.

If this was a regular year with a full camp and endless preseason games, I wouldn't be freaking, but is this guy supposed to sign and suit up the next day without so much as a full practice?  I know black guys are way better athletes but this might be pushing it!

I guess this is Bergevin's first test.  Don't fuck this up buddy, or you'll see how fast we'll all turn on you.  And as long as I'm giving advice, how about we don't wait so long to sign the guys we all know are cornerstones of the franchise.

Just sign him.  Now.

Go home, Gomez

Well this is interesting.  Are we trading Scott?  Of course not.  There is not enough acid on the  planet to get another GM to take him off our hands.  Are we sending him to Hamilton?  Nope.  Why would we infect another dressing room with his presence.  Are we buying him out?  Wrong again!  Buying him out now would make no sense since the amnesty clause of the new CBA only kicks in after this shortened season.  So the solution?  Go home.  Not only will we pay you in full and have your elephant sized salary on our books all year, but you can sit on your couch from now till April to earn it.  You know a team doesn't want anything to do with you when they would rather pay you to leave them alone.  That's like a guy paying a hooker not to sleep with him.  Here's $500, go away.

Hard to argue with the move. I just thought new management would want to see for themselves what the Alaxican sensation was made of (Ice and black beans apparently).  Supposedly Scott took it well.  No shit!  If my boss called me in tomorrow to tell me he would continue to pay me but he would rather I stay home, I'd be pretty damn psyched about it.  And to top it all off, he will get an handsome buyout at the end of the year to earn his freedom to sign with another team.  And let's get something straight, he will sign.  I know the poor bastard is hated by everyone on this island, but at 1 million a year, i'd take him.

So after this deal was finally reached last week, it was a pretty bitter sweet feeling across the board.  Happy that it's over but annoyed it had to get to this.  I think the owners have the right to dictate their terms.  It is after all their money.  But I did feel for the players after they got "destroyed" after the 2004 lockout.  But let's get something straight.  If there is an owner out there willing to give this guy one penny more than a million bucks a year, I will hunt him down and murder him with my bear hands.

Eat my ass Glen Sather.

Well well well. Look who decided to take their heads out of their asses.

Holy shit.  They did it.  They saved the season.  Very early Sunday morning, Gary and Donny finally stopped being two little pricks and made a deal.  Now all they have to do is convince their respective sides to sign on the dotted line. So assuming they do (and with their track records, I won't hold my breath), we should be looking at a 48-52 game season starting around Jan 19.

I gotta tell you I'm a little torn.  Obviously I'm happy hockey is back.  The 12 cents a year this blog produces  is essential to my survival.  But even without my financial stake in this, a little part of me was almost hoping to watch the whole thing burn down.  I was so turned off by this mess that I wanted to put the jerseys away and start figuring out the rules of curling.  But, let's focus on the positive.  Saturday nights will get way more interesting (for us married folk) and god willing, some playoff hockey will make this whole thing a distant memory come April.

So enjoy your Sunday and get ready for the Scott Gomez buyout!

Oh and PK better already be in Bergevin's office.

Having Fun Everyone?

ok good.

....

Carry on.

What's a black guy gotta do to get a contract around here?

Did you ever wonder what is going through this young man's mind? Don't bother wondering. I'll tell you exactly what. Don't ask me how, but I was able to implant a microchip in his brain. It took a while to get close to him and I ended up having to give him a roofie but it was totally worth it. This is the transcript that was generated from the experiment:

PK: How the fuck does everybody on this team get a deal before me? I play 30 minutes a game, become the defacto #1 defenceman on this team and for what?? To watch fuckin' Franky Boullion get his before me? Motherfuck Franky Boullion. I swear to god, if Darche gets a deal before me, I'm going to the AHL. The African Hockey League. I'm sure they run things better than the circus going on here. I don't even know why I bother with this team. They're gonna pay Gomez 8 million to score 2 goals while I go out there and bust my ass every night. I invented the triple low five for Christ sake. You think that kind of innovation grows on trees? Fuck this. I want 9 million a year.

Why on earth is this taking so long? Does anybody doubt this will eventually get done? No. So why piss him off in the process and risk losing him for spite? If he ends up signing a one or two year deal, the guy is gonna bolt the second it's over. This kid is the real deal. Pay him and move on. We overpay for half the assholes on this team, so what's the hold up?

I stand with you Pernell. Fuck the PO-lice.

More thoughts on the New Coach

It's been 24 hours. I've watched a full season of 24 since we last spoke and now have a fresh new take on the situation.

Millions of people will die if Bergevin doesn't reverse his decision, disarm the nuclear warheads, assassinate Tarakamov the obscure Lithuanian President, destroy the virus, escape from a Mexican war lord's cave and boogie with the President of the United States to the sounds of Diana Ross by 2pm today.

Simple.

Also, there is a huge component to the Therrien hiring: knowledge. Therrien has been watching the Habs for a year through his vantage point at RDS. He has seen things from afar. Crawford doesn't have that perspective, which of course didn't disqualify him, but still, he didn't spend a year dissecting every period this team played.

That's an enormous advantage and you can imagine it translated into a far more detailed interview when Therrien entered Bergevin's office. I would even think that Therrien is more knowledeable than Bergevin on what ails the team. That has to reassure a young GM with no experience.

I'm thinking that had I been in Bergevin's shoes, I would have done the same. And I would have done everything in my power to fly back to North Korea to steal the nuclear codes from that evil empire.

All in a day's work.

Habs Complete Shakeup, Name Therrien Head Coach, Reimburse Crawford Rosetta Stone Books

When asked to conjugate the verb "marcher", Crawford stumbled at the 3rd person singular. Then the past participle of the verb "vendre" did him in. Fate sealed. Le clou dans le cercueil. The nail in the Yakupov. Despite the long hours Marc Crawford has logged in French lessons, ce n'était pas suffisant. 

Michel Therrien has been here before, the first time around virtually unknown outside of the province, and frankly speaking, with the team at his disposal upon his arrival, he did alright. He did so much dirty leg work in Pittsburgh you have to admire the process he put the young Pens through.

Doug Collins worked hard to bring Michael and the Bulls to a tipping point. That ran its course because it requires immense habit changing philosophy. It's an exhausting and at times thankless process. Bylsma walked in and pushed a well oiled machine over the limit. Much like Phil Jackson did with the Bulls after Collins was fired. 

Therrien was behind the bench when Saku Koivu made his rousing return to Montreal after a terrible fight with cancer. He managed to steer that team to a playoff spot despite having the captain sit out all but 3 games. He coached the last useful legs out of Doug Gilmour who looked like a 25-year old in the first round against the Bruins that year. No coach got more out of Richard Zednik. The Therrien team played with some jam. With Theodore in nets, at the time the best goalie in the world, the Habs were, at the very least, enjoyable to watch. 

What the Habs could have done in the spring of 2002 had they held on to that Game 4, 3-0 third period lead against the Hurricanes will always be a matter of speculation. It was a meltdown of incredible proportions and Therrien was at the heart of it, taking an ill-timed bench minor that lead to the Canes' stirring comeback. 

In that twist, the best and worst of Therrien can be found - capable of coaching a young team to good heights with inspiring and gutsy hockey, and yet berating to a fault and capable of losing a room, the only room that you can rely on for survival in your coaching career.

We won't go over what we think of the language debate immersing itself into the recruitment process. It is what it is. But the question one should ask is - was this the best guy given the pool Montreal has afforded itself. It's impossible to say - for 2 reasons. We do not know how Therrien has evolved as a coach and we don't know how he has progressed as a person. One thing is certain, one inevitably pulls the other - in the very human, raw dynamics of coaching the more you mature the more likely the message you are trying to convey will be better formulated and received. That is if you are open to the maturing process.

Having been away from the game will give Therrien an appreciation for coaching that will entice him to tread carefully. We can speculate that his teeth will cut through the more erratic cloth of a PK, a Kaberle. His dedication to defence will help turn the D's attention towards better awareness and responsibility. His dedication to work, the most basic attribute one can hope for will give him a natural advantage in the eyes of the players and front office personnel. He's trying hard, he's dedicated to our success, let's rally around him. Because in the end, that's what it's all about - can the coach create or foster a sentiment of solidarity among the players, a belief in a system and in themselves. That belief can only be hatched out of winning - its not an artificial creation, and so the system must come first. The rest will come.

Good luck to Michel Therrien. Congratulations on an extremely well deserved reversal of fortune.

Habs leave Pierre at the altar, marry Bergevin.

All indications point to Marc Bergevin becoming the next unhappiest man in sports. It is expected that the Montreal Canadiens will announce that he will be named the General Manager later today. It came down to him and eternal Bride's maid Pierre Maguire.

Personally, I would've loved to see Pierre get his shot. Not just because I truly believe he knows more about Hockey players than anyone else, but because I just want to stop wondering what it would be like to have him run this team.

But let's not shit all over the Bergevin parade. I'm actually thrilled that the team went way out of the box and picked someone that has no past affiliation with the organization. He's held all kinds of positions from director of player personnel to head scout. He knows hockey. He speaks french (although so did Pierre). He likes strippers. He'll fit right in.

Lord knows he has a ton of work to do. We're already hearing grumblings that Scott Gomez will be bought out and there are still lots of holes to fill. So let's get behind him for the next few months. God knows we'll have plenty of time to second guess his every move after he picks 3rd in the draft.

Bonne chance Marc. Si tu ne nous amènes pas une coupe, tu seras crucifié au coin de Ste-Catherine et Peel.

Damphousse out, common sense in

So perhaps Vinny realized that he had no business being in the GM conversation. Today, he announced that he was removing his candidacy for the job. Part of me thinks it's fucking arrogant for the guy to remove himself from a job he was grossly under-qualified for, but the other part of me is thankful because the moronic Habs might have hired him.

For the last few days, the rumors have been flying left right and center. Roy wants the job but with veto power on hockey decisions. Pat Brisson has been approached. Marc Bergevin is interested. It never ends. And thanks to Molson's secret policy, it's going to be like this for a few more weeks. I for one hope they go way outside the box.

In other news, Carey Price has a concussion. This is actually not horrible news. Shut him down for the year, let him get his rest and he'll have plenty of time to reload for next year. There was no point in sending him out there for the last three games. Had this happened in any other season, it would've crippled us.

Tonight we welcome the Lightning and perhaps our next GM in Julien Brisebois. One more loss and we're guaranteed no worse than 28th overall. Go Bolts! Although I still want Pacioretty to score. How about 7-6 Tampa. Everybody happy?

79 down, 3 to go.

Well, this is it. The home stretch. 3 games to go and oh so close to the #2 pick and an 18% chance at #1. I can taste it. The Oilers helped us out last night and finishing 15th in the East seems pretty likely. It sickens me to be so excited to finish last, but it is necessary. No pain no gain. Although we've felt nothing but pain for the last 18 years with this team and have gotten no gain. Interesting...

But overshadowing our chase for last place is now the GM (and coach) search. Let's not kid ourselves. There is no way Cunneyworth is back. And not because he doesn't speak french. Have you ever seen an interim coach who saw his team slide from 9th to 15th come back? Ain't happening. So for the next 2 months, the rumor mill will be working overtime as the list of candidates for the jobs grows. The odd move in all this is the retention of Serge Savard as consiglieri. The guy is 97 years old and 17 years removed from being employed by the team. Is he really the best person to advise a president still wet behind the ears? And to make things even more awkward, he already contradicted his boss by announcing to the world that the next GM will speak french moments after Molson said he would not limit himself to that criteria. Only in Montreal could this shit happen. It seems the Damphousse-Roy tandem has the early edge and I for one am against it.

Roy as coach is ok. They guy has paid his dues in the Q and has undeniable qualities as a leader and motivator. He is a risky choice but nobody can argue his merit. He is also very skilled at ordering his goalies to skate across the ice and lay the smackdown on the opposing netminder that clearly wants nothing to do with it.

But can someone tell me what the hell qualifies Damphousse to be a GM? Because he was a player rep? Because he's a business man? Gimme a break. For once I would like this team to hire someone that other teams would consider. A guy that other teams wish they had. I don't see any offers lined up for Damphousse. There is no way he deserves to be in the drivers seat that fast. Vinny, if you wanna be a GM, go be someone's assistant for a few years and then we'll talk.

Geoff, at this point, I just hope you go with the best guy and not the most popular guy. You have a chance to set the tone to your reign as owner and president. Let everybody know that since you put up the $600M, you can do whatever you want and if the press doesn't like it, they can go cover the Impact.