New Team, New Coach and Same Expectations

First of all, let me just say that I wish the Habs would have had the balls to hire an English speaking coach. Sure some can argue that Martin was the best available coach, I am still disappointed that Carbo was fired in the first place. On the other hand, I am definitely happy that Patrick Roy isn't the Habs coach though, as was rumoured, as he has basically no experience in the professional coaching ranks. At least with Martin, if all else fails, they have free satelite TV courtesy of his massive ears.

Personally, I think Martin will fit in well in Montreal as far as the culture of the team. Right now there was a plethora of change in the Habs dressing room and new leadership will rise in the mold of Martin. The obvious "downside" of the Martin would be his much-talked about defensive style of play. I think he isn't really getting his fair shake on this one; in Florida, the team had a lot less scoring talent than the current Habs team. That being said I think Martin will have to balance Montreal's offensive players and make them into a strong balanced team. Quick note, Martin's Panther's last year were last in the league in shots allowed, not so defensive after all...

His efficiency in Ottawa was among the best in the league, he made a struggling team into a strong contender every year. A lot of the Ottawa fans will probably say that he also made for boring hockey and stifled the development of youngsters like Jason Spezza and held back the offensive abilities of Martin Havlat and Marian Hossa.

The Canadiens will most likely be a contender for a playoff spot and will largely depend on the play of Carey Price or Jaroslav Halak. Unfortunately, I have trouble finding a reason why Martin will be good for Price or even Halak, and for this reason I can't really say that Martin is the right man for the Habs for me, at least right now. As far as the team in general, I think they can have solid success with the team Bob has put together, I am fully behind the two signings for Mara as well as Moen. These guys will bring some gusto that was lacked by the team especially in the playoffs.

Overall, Jacques is bringing in new ideas with a new team and I feel like the Habs can have any type of season, setting expectations on this team would be quite difficult.

Stampede Summary

With the Stampede in Calgary winding down, Dion Phaneuf looks over to Jay Bouwmeester as they receive their week's bar tab and says "Don't worry Jay, you still have five million left for this year". By the way, for Flames fans, are you concerned that you just spent almost 7 million per season for a Bill Gates look-a-like? Weird.In Calgary, Darryl Sutter stuck to his guns, didn't make any noise after the Bouwmeester trade and now the defense is the story of the summer. The Flames' top 4 defense is the most expensive in hockey (over 20 million for Jay, Dion, Regehr and Sarich, just passing Detroit's fearsome foursome). A common misconception is that Calgary had trouble scoring goals last season. However, they ranked 8th in goals per game even with their power play ranking 21st in the league - I thought they had issues but they clearly did not. More of an issue would be their power play and their 23rd rank in the goals against department.

Therefore, the addition of Bouwmeester will surely boost their power play offense as well as give them a great upgrade to their team defense. Less minutes where Dion is counted on to play defense is good, right? Hopefully for Flames fans this rejuvenated defense corps will enthuse Miikka Kiprusoff who recorded his lowest totals in both save percentage (.903) and goals against average (2.84) last season (even though he led the league in wins, games, saves and minutes). A reliable back up is something Calgary hasn't had for a longtime, I doubt that Curtis McElhinney is the answer, since his AHL success hasn't translated to NHL success.

Overall, the loss of Mike Cammaleri's team-high 39 goals will hurt their goal scoring ability so they will count on some of their younger players picking up the slack. Hot shot prospect Mickael Backlund will make some noise at Calgary's training camp, look for him to have an on again, off again NHL season. Keep in mind, they still have Olli Jokinen, another former 39 goal scorer.

Interesting statistics: 29th in blocked shots, 4th in Penalty Kill, 4th most Penalty Minutes and had only two players with more than 50 points.

Leafs Cash Out

The Toronto Maple Leafs went to town today and came back with 7 players signed.

Most notably, the long courting process of Francois Beauchemin finished off with Frankie signing a 3 year deal worth 3.8 million dollars per season. This signing was expected for a while now as Beauchemin became an unrestricted free agent.

My immediate reaction was to say good job to the Leafs for signing one of the best defensemen available in free agency, might not be saying much but Beauchemin is a solid top four defenseman that stepped up bigtime in the absence of Scott Neidermayer two years ago. A good puck mover and contributor on the power play, Beauchemin also brings something very few Leafs have; a Stanley Cup.

The expected BUT, would be that the terms of the deal are only for three years. Now, the assumption would be that three years from now, the 32 year old Beauchemin may not fit the team model. However, I think the signing is kind of a step sideways as the Leafs realistically don't have a team to compete over the next couple seasons. This would be the only real downfall from this signing as it does create cap space in 3 years to sign another free agent that may put them closer to the top.

And in the meantime, Beauchemin will be a great leader in the dressing room and a strong influence over the growth of the young Leafs. It is easy to assume that he will be a solid fit alongside Luke Schenn on the Leafs second pairing.

The team also signed their first round pick, Nazem Kadri to his entry level contract. Good call but Leaf fans shouldn't see this as a sign that he will be playing for the team anytime soon. Also signing today was Marlies captain Ben Ondrus, Ryan Hamilton, Jay Rosehill, Tim Brent and Richard Greenop. These signings are pretty irrelevant since they will spend 90% of the time with the AHL's Marlies.

In other news, Alex Kovalev has signed in Ottawa. This may be a move to fill the inevitable void that Dany Heatley will leave on Spezza's wing or it could be a move to tell Heater to get his act together and fire on all cylinders with this new sniper. As far as Alex's role in Ottawa, it will be difficult to see him fit in with a team that has a very weak dressing room and few Russians. Maybe he just wants to spurn the Habs by visiting the Bell Center 3 times a year...

Canadiens Spending Spree

What a way to start off the Free Agency season! No waiting for Sundin to sign somewhere, no waiting for the Lightning to go crazy and sign everyone, just some fast paced high calibre signings. Here is a view at what the Canadiens have done in 12 hours.

Note: remember, you always overpay on July 1st.

Scott Gomez: viable number one center, pass first shoot second type player, not a Franchise centerman. The price they paid was acceptable on the trade front as it was largely a salary move for the Rangers. I feel like Bob Gainey will take a lot of heat for this trade but I would have done it as well. At 7.3 million per season, I would rather have Gomez than Marian Gaborik (7.5).

Mike Cammalleri: strong addition to their wing as they will miss Alex Kovalev’s wrist shot from the angles, Cammalleri will replace this and give the Habs a lot less headaches. As for giving him a Sedin contract, it’s July 1st. I think he will compliment Gomez quite nicely and give the Habs powerplay some gusto.

Brian Gionta: another addition to the wing position, his 60 points last season with New Jersey was another solid season for the 30 year old. I believe Gionta can be a valuable asset at $5 million for 5 years, his past with Gomez is promising and his skills defensively are strong.

Jaroslav Spacek: The puck moving defenseman the Habs were looking for last season to round out their top 4 steps in to fill time where Komisarek will be gone. He is consistently around the 40 point mark when he can play 80 games and will be a valuable asset in Montreal’s break out and power play. Although he will not bring a booming slap shot from the point, he will create space for the smaller forwards.

Hal Gill: This tower of power is an ideal 6th defenseman when playing 12 minutes per night. His 2.25 cap hit is acceptable and he will bring a stalwart presence to the Canadiens penalty kill. This signing should be viewed as filler for the defense corps.

Quick look at the Habs potential lines. Not counting Koivu, which I hope they can sign.

Cammalleri Gomez TBD
Gionta Plekanec A. Kostitsyn
D’Agostini Lapierre Latendresse
S. Kostitsyn Metropolit Laraque

Markov Hamrlik
Spacek Gorges
Gill Weber