The Montreal Canadiens do seem to want to play in front of Jaroslav Halak. It’s a conundrum of a wonderful sort as you can never have enough talent.
Bob Gainey has played it textbook sticking by his star Goalie Carey Price, but the team seems to be speaking quite loudly if Halak’s agent hasn’t of late.
Brian Gionta and Benoit Pouliot scored last night as Montreal out shot Florida 39-38.
It was wide open hockey with very few penalties called. Mike Cammallieri was credited with 8 shots on goal so space wasn’t an issue. Scott Gomez collected two assists and quietly is racking up his point total.
Having two strong lines opens up some ice and takes some pressure off, and having Andrei Markov back is making some of the other Habs D men look much better too.
In Vancouver Roberto Luongo shut out Phoenix 4-0, and the Sens were prorogued 5-2 by a hot Washington Capital team.
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Keep Halak. Prorogue and trade Price for anotther defenceman or Lecavalier..
I disagree. Keep Price, trade Halak. Price has 2 years on Halak and has won at every level before the pros. He’s a winner, big game goalie. Only game 7 he’s played in the NHL, shutout. World Juniors he won it for Canada, Calder cup he stood on his head in Hamilton(I was there) In 2 years when he reaches the same age as Halak is he’ll be way better than he is now. Probably the starting goaltender for the 2014 Winter Olympics. Best 22 year old goalie in the world. It would be a huge mistake to trade him this young.
I agree with you. Price has the better pedigree, but what was Domenic Hasek’s pedigree? And in this cap age salary plays a huge role. Halak will not cost as much as Price to keep which adds to his value overall.
Pedigree, pedigree, pedigree is nothing. What have you done for me lately is what counts? Halak is doing great and the players like to play in front of him. If general managers all think like you guys, then just imagine what you can get in exchange for Price on the open market. This is our chance Canadiens.
This thought that the players “like to play fo Halak” is being tossed around far too much. So what, everytime the Habs play Price they don’t bother showing up, is that it. Come on, get real. I’d rather play the Islanders than the Capitals too. It has to do with the quality of the teams they play when Price is in goal compared to Halak. Usually the teams they play when Halak is in goal don’t have top flight goaltenders either, so as a result, the Habs score more. What have you done for me lately, how about setting the franchise record for saves in a game, and keeping the team in games they have no business being in. The Habs beat Columbus earlier this year and Price made about 6 incredible saves while they were being outshot 27-11, and they came back and poured it on and won. Price was the only reason they had a chance to do that. Without Price in Washington the score could have been about 8-2. I could go on, but I think our opinions are probably set.
Chris it’s not like Price is a bad goalie. It’s just that I think fans and players root for a guy like Halak. An example. In the 70’s we had Guy LaFleur who was all talent with a linemate named Steve Shutt who had to work his butt off to get where he was.
Every news story was about the LaFleur and the crowd was of course always chanting and revving up Guy’s star power. And I have a hunch there was a salary difference too.
I think many of us want the underdog to win. The Habs have two really good goalies. One has to go at some point; especially with arbitration and the salary cap age. The trick is to keep the one that’s the best value for the time and get the most for the one that goes. And when you have as many high end salaries as the Habs do you have to go the Detroit route and spend less on your goaltending.
I think Bob can probably sign Halak for a reasonable amount and get some good value for Price. I’m not saying that’s the best route to go, but it’s the most practical unless you get rid of Gomez and Hamrlik.
Some players never do their best with their intial NHL team. I think that Price is one of these. The trade for Pouliot and Latendress seems to prove, at least so far, that this trade was good for both clubs and for both players. One of the Canadiens goalies will have to get traded and I think it should be Price and trade for a back up goalie and more.
I think the Habs need a top six forward, preferably one with some stones. If Price can bring that it’s a good thing. Right now the Canadians don’t have a stud. They have some very good players, but no real star.