In my last article, I examined how the Canadiens compared against the rest of the league in their ability to evaluate and develop NHL talent. No NHL team has had more success than the Habs since 2003 with respect to their draft picks playing in the NHL. However, the only statistic that fans of the Canadiens care about right now is the one that says the Habs are last place in the Eastern Conference. So the question for me now is, why?

I broke down all the players who have at least 1 NHL game from the list I compiled of drafted players since 2003. If they were still with the Canadiens, I discarded them. The same went for players who barely have any games in the NHL and/or have had an extremely limited role with their respective clubs. The idea here is to focus on players who could have contributed to the success of the Canadiens.

With Geoff Molson on the hunt for a new General Manager and many within the Canadiens fan base crying for a complete overhaul of the team, I wanted to take a deeper dive and see just how the Habs have ranked in drafting NHL calibre talent. So, with help of The Internet Hockey Database which has the latest statistics, I compiled a breakdown of every teams total draft picks since 2003, how many games each drafted player has played in the NHL, and their total points. I then comprised a rating sytem that added the average of Games Player by Draft Player and Points Scored by Draft Player, and sorted them from highest (best) to lowest (worst).

Woke up, barely slept, exhausted from nightmares of losing the fight no matter what I tried …If I was a fighter, that is how I think it would be for me; anxious all day, dehydrated and dying to get the fight over with so I can eat my post fight meal (something involving poutine and or pasta). But I am not a professional fighter, so I wonder: What is a MMA fighter’s mindset and what does he or she go through on fight day from the time they wake up until the referee announces the decision.

Fighters can be a unique breed of individual who deal with a whole gamut of emotions, pre and post-fight traditions and superstitions. I asked the following six professional fighters to take me through this tumultuous day one step each.

What people have forgotten about the Montreal Canadiens is the state the team was in prior to Bob Gainey took over the Franchise as General Manager. Years of horrible drafting left the cupboard bare, the legacy of the Habs who had won 24 Stanley Cups was tarnished, and the organisation was in shambles. Over the previous 9 seasons circa pre-Gainey, the Canadiens missed the playoffs 5 times, and were under .500 for the season 5 times as well. They also never finished higher than 3rd in their division. In the 8 NHL seasons since Bob Gainey has been involved with the Habs, this will only be the 2nd time they will not have made the playoffs and the first time that they will finish under .500. They also finished in the top 2 of their division 3 times. So for all of you who disrespect Bob Gainey and what he meant to this club, you can swallow those facts.

Pierre Gauthier...well, I tried to defend him back in the day. But yeah, I can admit I was wrong. I tried my hardest to believe that his awkwardness  and bullish behavior was hiding some kind of hidden genius...now I am just glad he is gone. Geoff Molson had all about that he could stands of Pierre Gauthier and he couldn't stands no more. The press conference today made that clear to me, as much as Mr. Molson tried to be politically correct, he was about one or two "Mr.Gauthier"'s away from being sarcastically obvious that Gauthier failed in his role as a communicator both internally and externally to the fans.

All athletes share a common fear and loathing of loss and injury. An MMA fighter’s slightest misstep can lead to serious consequences. From medical bills, missed fights, lost income and time off training. An injury can dramatically impact a career. In mixed martial arts the most common, of serious, training mishaps is a knee injury. Anything from torn ligaments or cartilage can lead to surgery and ten weeks or more of down time. Recently, UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre suffered such damage in the form of a torn ACL in his left knee, which will sideline him for over ten months.

The following piece takes a look into these injuries from the standpoint of a fighter who is currently recovering from such an accident, his coach and a surgeon.

9pm, March 8^th, Tristar gym (Montreal, Qc, Canada)

David ‘’the crow’’ Loiseau

MMA veteran, he has competed at the top levels of the UFC and holds titles with the former organization TKO and current TPF. He was the first French Canadian to fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

So, how are you feeling Dave?

I’m feeling great, thanks for asking.

The Franchise, in collaboration with HabsAddict.com, threw together our 3rd Habs Viewing Party. In attendance were the 10 winners chosen from our show on TSN Radio 990 Montreal and TheFranchise.ca and HabsAddict.com websites, along with 4 friends. Special guest Shaun Starr of The Morning Show on TSN Radio 990 was also in attendance. Other TSN Radio Montreal staff included Sean Coleman, Robyn Flynn, and Domenic Insogna.

A special thank you to Danielle Fernandez from Dangle Media and Host of The Random Hockey Show for all her work at our event, and of course Paul Branchaud and Tara Sandler from Team In Training whose charity was the recipient of a portion of the proceeds from our raffle tickets.

And of course, our great sponsors who donated amazing prizes that everyone in attendance had a chance to win, many of whom did thanks to the amount of giveaways we were able to draw.

TSN Radio 990 Montreal

Canadiens Alumni Chris "Knuckles" Nilan

JTI Sports Management

Little Bear Pet Supplies : Little Bear, we don’t sell pets, just what’s best for them…

CSG International : Leaders in sports uniforms and apparel, customize your team with CSG from top to bottom.

Bon C Bon :We cook for you, and deliver it too!

GameTags (sports equipment identification labels) : Get your GameTags on…

Special thanks to: Ownership and staff of Brasserie Sports 40, Marisa Lamenta, JT Utah from 25Stanley.com, Del Johnson for his graphic design talents and of course, our winners and their friends. Here is the list of the lucky winners:

Pictures and Video will be coming soon!