Dec 02 Habs Cash In Their Chipchura

I hope Kyle Chipchura and Saku Koivu got along as teammates in Montreal. It appears they will be reunited in Anaheim after the Canadiens announced today that Chipchura has been traded to the Ducks for a 2011, fourth round pick. 

Make that another high round pick for the Canadiens that didn’t pan out. Chipchura was, in fact a   first rounder and former Team Canada Captain full of promise and hope. He was also picked  2 ahead of Travis Zajac and 11 before Mike Green. 

I know that this is revisionist history and that the Green reference should be moot as he is a defenseman and not a centreman. Just throwin' it out there.

One has to wonder if the inspired play of recent call-ups Tom Pyatt and Ryan White did not result in making Chipchura the odd man out on the roster, however it was clear that for the last 2 seasons, the Canadiens gave every chance to Chipchura to forge a spot on this team. His minus 10 rating in the 19 games he’s played this year did not help him in that quest. 

General manager Bob Gainey is showing that lack of effort or productivity will not be accepted, with the recent trade of ne'er do well Guillaume Latendresse and now Chipchura. 

If Gainey finds other dance partners in the near future, there may be some others on the team that should be looking to either find their game, or find a moving company.

Habs press release follows.