Showing posts with label joffrey lupul. Show all posts
Showing posts with label joffrey lupul. Show all posts

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Subban Update, Eller Takes It Like A Man, More...

Good Morning HabsAddicts!!!!

The Twitterverse was abuzz yesterday after TSN Insider Bob McKenzie joined the Morning Show on TSN 690 Montreal, claiming that the Canadiens may be looking into trading RFA defenseman P.K. Subban, should a contract impasse continue.

The fact of the matter is Habs' GM Marc Bergavin has claimed publicly that he has every intention of resigning the budding superstar, and NOT trading him. Rumours and speculation are part of the everyday business of sports, but this is beginning to border on the ridiculous.

What exactly do people think would be an equitable return for Subban? Certainly, if a team signs him to an offer sheet and the Habs don't match, three first-round draft picks wouldn't nearly cover the value P.K. brings to the Canadiens' lineup.

Some have suggest perhaps trading him to the Anaheim Ducks for Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf or Bobby Ryan. How irresponsible would Marc Bergavin be if he traded a restricted free agent for a player, as in the case of Perry and Getzlaf, are scheduled to be unrestricted free agents come year's end? Further to that, not getting back a high defensive prospect in return for Subban would be a mistake as well.

The ball is in the Canadiens' court right now. Subban, without right to arbitration, can only wait and see what the team decides he will do this season. If the negotiations continue to stall, and the team has success, it may be a longtime before Subban gets to count a fresh set of Benjamins.

Here is Dave Stubbs' piece on the Subban situation from the Montreal Gazette.

Habs and Hockey News and Notes:

Remember to tune into MontrealHockeyTalk.com tonight at 6 PM for the Pre-Game Show with Steven Hindle, Rob Elbaz & Bobby Dollas, and join Corey Collard and a cast of characters for the best Habs Post-Game Show 5 minutes after the game. Also available on the TuneIn Radio app for smartphones.

- Lars Eller took his lumps like a man. While speaking to the press yesterday, the Danish centre said he needed to earn his spot in the line-up, and do what was asked of him by Habs' Head Coach Michel Therrien. He also admitted that being told what he was expected to do by the coaching staff was a refreshing change from the previous regime.

- Leafs' forward Joffrey Lupul broke his forearm during last night's game versus the Pittsburgh Penguins. With the injury, speculation of his emminent departure to Vancouver as part of a deal between Toronto and the Canucks is pushed aside. Kessel anyone?

- The New York Rangers, who most have picked to come out of the Eastern Conference and compete for the Stanley Cup, finally earned their first victory of the season defeating the Boston Bruins 4-3 in overtime.. Marian Gaborik, who was lined up with Rick Nash and Brad Richards, scored a hat trick that included the overtime winner.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Habs Declaw Panthers, Kovy Returns, More...

Happy Hump Day HabsAddicts!!!

Our beloved Habs, fresh off a lacklustre performance on Saturday against the Leafs, brought their A game last night, beating the Florida Panthers 4-1. The Canadiens were led by Andrei Markov, who scored two power play goals, his first tallies in over two years.

Rookie centre Alex Galchenyuk, who centered the Habs' third line alongside Brandon Prust and Brendan Gallagher, scored his first career NHL goal. Gallagher tallied his first career point on the play.

Many were questioning the removal of Lars Eller from the lineup, but Galchenyuk's performance, which earned him the first star of the game, brought the capacity crowd to its feet and quickly silenced the naysayers. It was obvious through his performance that the Canadiens' 2012 third-round pick was right at home playing the centre position.

The team's character was also in evidence when Ryan White threw a couple of punches at the Panthers' Thomas Fleischman after he hit Josh Gorges from behind. While the altercation earned White an instigator penalty and ejection, no one criticized that fourth liners for coming to the defence of one of his teammates.

Kevin Dineen, the head coach of the Panthers, started Scott Clemmenson in goal versus the Canadiens. Coming into the game, Clemmenson boast a flawless 6-0 career record versus "Les Glorieux."

The Canadiens are next in action on Thursday night, as they travel to Washington to take on Alex Ovechkin and the still winless Capitals.

Habs and Hockey News and Notes:

- Tune in to the podcast of the post-game show on MontrealHockeyTalk.com, as host Corey Collard, Matt Casavant, Jay Ferrar and our own Kamal Panesar analyze the Canadiens' victory, and it possible implications in the P.K. Subban negociations.

- Dave Stubbs visits with former Hab and current Florida Panthers' winger Alex Kovalev to discuss his return to Montreal. 

- With Vancouver GM Mike Gillis' comments yesterday about a possible deal being close for trading goaltender Roberto Luongo, rumbling out of Toronto suggest that the "additional player" in the deal may be either Joffrey Lupul, who just signed a five-year extension with the Leafs, or Phil Kessel, who has lost favour with head coach Randy Carlyle.

- While we already knew sports merchandise sales were down during the NHL lockout, SportsPosterWarehouse.com posted some interesting stats in regards to how overall poster sales were affected. Hopefully, business is about to pick up.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Habs/Jets post game, Hawks Cup favorites, Power Rankings, Rumours and more

Happy Friday Habs addicts!

Although if you're a fan of the Habs I'm sure there's nothing that's making you very happy right now.

Montreal dropped their fifth straight game, last night, a 4-0 blanking at the hands of the Winnipeg Jets. And man did they look bad in the process.

It looks like Carey Price is the only player who is showing up on a regular basis.

In other news, Adam Proteau looks at the Blackhawks as Stanley Cup favorites, Jonas Spiegel discusses Joffrey Lupul and much more.

Habs News

HabsAddict.com - Montreal Canadiens in Chaos, Need Leadership at the Top

Hockey Inside/Out - At least it’s a white Christmas

About last night … with audio

RDS - « C’est rendu gênant pour chacun de nous »

TSN - WHEELER HAS TWO GOALS, ASSIST; JETS SHUT OUT CANADIENS

HabsWorld.net - HW 3 Stars: Quintuple Low Five

THN.com - Campbell: Unnecessary talk

Hockey News

TSN - FRASER: WHY EDLER'S GOAL ON HOWARD SHOULD NOT HAVE COUNTED

TSN.CA NHL POWER RANKINGS

SIEGEL: LUPUL A CONSISTENT THREAT FOR LEAFS

THN.com - Proteau: Blackhawks take over as Stanley Cup favorite

Boylen: What makes hockey great

VIDEO: Kings Anze Kopitar paving the way for Slovenian hockey

Spector's Hockey - Next Update to NHL Rumors page – Tuesday, December 27, 2011

(Photo by Marianne Helm/Getty Images North America)

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Habs/Bruins preview, Markov update, Oilers, Leafs, Flyers, Rumours and more...

Habs News
Hockey Inside/Out - Multimedia from the non-practice
http://www.hockeyinsideout.com/news/multimedia-from-the-non-practice

Round II with the Bs
http://www.hockeyinsideout.com/news/round-ii-with-the-bs

RDS - CH-Bruins: 2e round
http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/329110.html

Moins de nuages gris dans le ciel du CH
http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/329070.html

Spacek comprend bien ce que vit Cole
http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/329081.html

Perry Pearn est déçu mais pas amer
http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/329088.html

TSN - CANADIENS' MARKOV GETTING CLOSER TO PRACTICING WITH TEAM
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=379110

Gameday
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/scores/gameday/?hubname=nhl-canadiens


NHL News
TSN - NUGENT-HOPKINS INFORMED HE'S STAYING WITH OILERS
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=379116

REPORT: LANDESKOG STAYING UP WITH AVALANCHE
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=379094

FRASER: WHY NOT LET THE PLAYERS 'GO AT IT' AND FIGHT?
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=379122

SIEGEL: LUPUL SHREDDING PAST DOUBTS FOR LEAFS
http://www.tsn.ca/toronto/blogs/jonas_siegel/?id=379140

THN.com - Campbell: Flyers goalie woes return
http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/42611-Campbell-Flyers-goalie-woes-return.html

Spector's Hockey - Latest Bruins, Senators and Islanders Rumors – October 29, 2011
http://spectorshockey.net/wordpress/2011/10/29/latest-bruins-senators-and-islanders-rumors-october-29-2011/

Monday, February 14, 2011

Montreal Canadiens' P.K. Subban: Problem Child or Star Burning Bright?

by Kamal Panesar

Is P.K. Subban a problem child?

With players like Matt Cooke, Colby Armstrong and Sean Avery, among others, running their mouths and throwing in the occasional dirty play, you would think not.

Yet for whatever reason, Subban has been a lightning rod for criticism from his fellow NHLPA members, on several occasions this season.

So the question is why?

Is his self-assuredness as a rookie bothersome to the opposition who feel that as a first-year player, he should be more humble? Perhaps it is his world-class ability to chirp after whistles or maybe it's his perceived hubris that rubs them the wrong way.

Whatever the problem, there is no question P.K. Subban is, in a lot of ways, the talk of the league this year.

After the Habs shut out the Leafs 3-0 on Saturday night and Subban got into a scrap with Joffrey Lupul, the latter suggested in his postgame comments that it was a dirty play by Subban to attack him while he was trying to take his helmet off.

Looking at the replay, I can see what Lupul is saying, but I can also see how Subban wasn't trying to be "dirty" but rather, amped by adrenaline, he just wanted to get his hands on the Leafs' player.

Should he have waited for Lupul to take his helmet off?

Probably, but I think that is something he will learn in time. Another thing he will learn in time is to be less reactionary. He is, after all, only 21 years old and is getting the lion's share of attention from the opposition as the Habs de facto No.1 defenseman.

And while, in a few years, you won't be seeing as many reactionary plays, slashes, trips, chirps and the like, right now as a young player, I think it's only normal that Subban gets drawn into post-whistle activity.

Some have gone down the road of race, saying that the backlash against Subban is due to the colour of his skin and that the league has never had an African-Canadian star that is the magnitude of Subban, and as such, he is being targeted for racial reasons.

I say that's nonsense.

Subban clearly possesses all-world skills on the ice and a larger-than-life personality off of it. And for anyone whose star burns as bright as his does, I think it's normal that they attract equal amounts of positive and negative attention.

Look at Sidney Crosby or Wayne Gretzky when they broke into the league. These were elite-level players who took a ton of shots and criticism in their first year or so in the league.

I remember when Crosby broke into the NHL, I could not believe the amount of vitriol that was being spewed in his direction. And, while Crosby still has a reputation as being a bit of a whiner, he too has cut back on a lot of the complaining and whining that had a lot of players and fans talking poorly about the young superstar.

Now I am not suggesting that Subban is in the same skill category as either Crosby or Gretzky but simply pointing out that when a player and/or personality is so big, it invariably rubs others the wrong way.

Gretzky, when he was 13 or 14 years old and absolutely obliterating all of the Peewee hockey ranks, was hated by his own teammates and had parents on his team that wanted him kicked off.

How's that for a star burning a little to bright for the comfort of others around it?

For some demented reason, it's just a truism of human nature that as much as we love to canonize people, we also love to tear them down. Almost equally actually.

So as for Subban, I think that what he has to work on is being less reactionary.

If he is going to be a star No. 1 defender in the league, he is going to have to get used to the extra body checks, the extra slashes, the extra cross checks and the extra yapping that is directed his way. He will have to learn, like all top-level defenseman in the league do, that this kind of extra attention comes with the territory and that he can't respond with a slash, cross check or slewfoot of his own.

I have no doubt that in a few years these extracurricular discussions about Subban will be a thing of the past, and all that will be left to talk about will be his tremendous skill.


The Sunday Shinny - Episode 9

We have a new and extremely lively episode of the Sunday Shinny this past weekend in which there was a lot of discussion about Subban, including a bunch of callers. Here are some of the topics we discussed:

-Talking with callers about the challenging issue of racial commentary regarding PK Subban.
-Times up for Andrei Kostitsyn?
-Too little too late for Scott Gomez?
-And more...

Click play below to listen in (listing time 39:49):


(Photo by Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images North America)

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Kamal is a freelance Habs writer, Senior Writer/Editor-in-Chief of HabsAddict.com, Montreal Canadiens Blogger on Hockeybuzz.com and Habs writer on TheFranchise.ca. Kamal is also a weekly contributor to the Sunday Shinny on The Team 990 (AM 990) every Sunday from 8 - 9 AM. Listen live at http://www.team990.com/