Mar 03 And Bob's Your Uncle...

By Gary Whittaker

So the deadline has come and gone, and the only things that the Canadiens have to show for it is a reject from the Flyers, and a former reject of the Canadiens themselves. Sure, Lecavalier stayed put, as did the Ovechkins, Crosby's, and every other superstar actually mentioned by the Montreal Media as potential acquisitions. However, some starts like Guerin and Antropov were moved between Eastern conference teams, and Olli Jokinen was also traded as well. Critics will look at the cost of the trades made today, and think that Gainey could have easily matched.

WAKE UP Montreal! When is the last time Bob Gainey made an earth shattering trade? This is simply not in his nature, nor is it something that we would ever see from him, unless his hand was forced (ex: if Price had played BEFORE the trade deadline expired...). Gainey was not going to shake up the chemistry of the team that had finally found itself, led by the strong presence between the pipes in Halak. TSN's Pierre McGuire has been dogging the Habs all season when it counted, and recently stated that their 4 game win streak was a "mirage". Really Pierre? How many other teams can lose their leading scorer, and their top free agent acquisition, and play well behind a goaltender that has lost all confidence, and a part time Captain who plays part time? Montreal's core players, the ones that have been locked into a contract for next year, and not the people you want to be traded unless you can get a bonifide star player, and those simply where not available at the deadline. Not only that, but how many times have so called key acquisitions failed to gel on their new teams? Enough that it is not necessarily a slam dunk even if you did land that star player. What's more, a high caliber player would have cost you multiple prospects and roster players. Now, seeing Marian Hossa being carted off on a stretcher should remind everyone that hockey is too violent a sport to pin your hopes on one player.

If you want to debate whether or not Bob Gainey is the kind of GM that can make a good team great, we could spend hours. But Bob has shown that he can make a bad team into a contender, and once you get into the playoffs, anything can happen. Until then, we need to ensure that our goaltending and defensively play can keep the games close. When that breaks down, the Habs are getting blown out. Now that they know who they will have in the trenches with them, it will be up to them to band together as a team.

Tags: Bob \ canadiens \ Carey \ deadline \ Gainey \ habs \ hockey \ montreal \ NHL \ Price \ trade