The Reflection Period

(by KKNNIGHTWATCH's Joe Cannella)

Today is a day of reflection for most habs fans, thinking what could of been. The excitement and pump for deadline for some was immediately declined when John Lu from TSn reported that Mr Gauthier was flying with the team to ATLANTA. Now I'm not sure how this made some of you feel, but I was livid. However, less then an hour later it was confirmed that he actually arrived the night prior, soooo let the fun begin right?!?!? Unfortunately, for us half glass full kind of people our dreams were shattered and the only deal involving the Canadiens was a minor league deal, I was more excited when TSN picked up Chris Cuthberg from CBC during the lockout. There were 16 trades in all yesterday, but the one that caught my eye was the underachiever in Dustin Penner.. Many people wanted Mr Gauthier to get his services, but in my opinion the asking price was way too high. To give up a top prospect in Colten Teubert who many have said has the potential to be a hard hitting defenceman like Dion Phaneuf, a first round draft pick and a conditional third rounder that has the possibility to be a second, is a huge Price tag for someone who may perform1 out of 3 games. Now if I was a GM in the league I would be terrified of the future Oilers. They go into this draft with high probability in selecting first overall, which in my opinion would allow them to select the Adam Larrson, a great puck moving defenceman to go along with their already star stellar forward cast and now Pajaarvi will have a fellow sewed has a teammate and friend. The scary thing is if all these young guns decide that they will manipulate the salary cap in order to allow Kevin Lowe to bring in veterans by taking similar contracts then this team is set for many years to come. Its undeniable that the core group of kids have the ability to win multiple cups. So am I the only one that sees Edmonton as a potential powerhouse??!?! but I'm not a GM so I guess my opinion is irrelevant but I'll speak my mind anyway.. Odds are they may part ways with one of their picks and acquire a legitimate top 6 forward come draft day, but only time will tell. Moving back to the habs, so like many I was disappointed in non-existence of Pierre Gauthier, but having said that I realized that he probably made the right decision. The Canadiens made numerous moves this year that have helped keep this team in contention. His ability to bring over The WiZZZZ for a draft pick was great, also he was able to bring in two Vets In Mara and Sopel who unlike many I think can help this team down the stretch. These guys know what it takes to win and come playoff time will elevate their games because they will feel the excitement and passion of the city. So I tip my hat to Gauthier, because he was able to acquire all these guys for basically Maxime Lapierre and Ben Maxwell. I know many people liked Maxwell but lets be honest here, he was not going to be a top 6 forward in Montreal, with the emergence of desharnais and the unfortunate contract of Scott Gomez this kid was just rotting in the AHL. Now I move on to lapierre, It bothers me that he has the opportunity to win a stanley cup. I don't think he deserves a shot, but that lucky guy was moved to a team in my opinion that if Luongo comes to play should have no problem winning Lord Stanley. Hopefully, he is a healthy scratch and was just acquired in case of an injury because personally I don't see where he would fit in. Well boys and Girls, as we stand here today the habs are in 6th place with 73 pts , 19 games to play so the future looks good. I'll leave you with this food for thought, If I were to have asked you if the Canadiens would have been in this position having lost Markov for the year, Gorges for the year arguably our two best d-men and on top of that lose cammaleri for a couple of months and this is the best one Carey Price as our full-time starter where do you think we would be right now in the standings?!?!

yours truly,

Canolz