If you want the HABS to become better ......... BOYCOTT THEM !
- Thread starter ocean
- Start date
For now because they badly manage the players and are stuck with non performing ones. But if they get worse for 2-3 season marketing will not be enough. I remember back in 2001-2006 era when they missed a lot of playoff, the bell centre was not full. If I had tickets to give to clients I could only do it if the opposing team was a strong one. If not, I was stuck with my tickets...
Cheers,
But if your team is going to suck, you want to go all out and suck badly, suck moose or even hippo balls, and also tank so you can get very high draft picks and rebuild quickly. The Leafs and Oilers have shown the rest of the NHL the playbook for sucking, tanking, and getting high draft picks to rebuild quickly with a strong core of youth. So the Habs should trade Price and Pacioretty, get high draft picks, and stockpile some more picks in order to make a run for greatness in 4-5 years. There is no other way. Just do it.
The Leafs did announce they'd blow it all up and rebuild from scratch. They predicted it would take up to five years to be competitive. Turns out they were wrong and it took two years. But this was because they lucked out and wound up being able to draft a hockey prodigy in Auston Mathews. It also helped that they also had the likes of Morgan Rielly, William Nylander and Mitchell Marner ready to contribute a the time Mathews first stepped onto the ice.
The Edmonton Oilers never announced a rebuild. They kept finishing last or close to it and wound up drafting #1 year after year. They had become a joke. But Bob Nicholson, Peter Chiarelli and Todd McLellan were hired and they finally had a competent management team. They got a very promising goalie in Cam Talbot from the Rangers and then got lucky by being able to draft a generational player like Connor McDavid and suddenly their future looks promising. Now they can continue building around McDavid but for myself the new management team had as much to do with their recent success.
Other teams were fortunate to be able to draft high-end talent on which they could build their team around. Pittsburgh was on the verge of losing the Penguins when Mario Lemieux was drafted back in 1984. The team had alerady previously filed for bankruptcy and at the time of Lemieux's arrival were still experiencing financial problems, the building was half empty game after game and they sucked on the ice. But Lemieux's arrival changed all that and the rest is history. The same scenario occurred 20 years later when the team was almost sold to Jim Balsilie who wanted to move the team to Hamilton. But the Penguins lucked out and won the draft lottery in 2005, drafting Sidney Crosby (another generation player) ahead of Anaheim who wound up having to draft Bobby Ryan instead. The Igloo suddenly filled up again, the team starting making money and along with the likes of Crosby, Geno Malkin, M-A Fleury and others became competitive and won a few Cups.
Chicago was going nowhere until they wound up drafting and acquiring the likes of Patrick Kaine (#1 overall), Dustin Keith, Jonathan Toews, Dustin Byfuglien, Patrick Sharp and others.
The problem with the habs is that i doubt the fans will agree to put up with a total rebuild like other teams did. The fans and the media will find it unacceptable that the Montreal Canadiens become the worst team in hockey. They did get lucky a few times over the years by positioning themselves to draft the likes of Carey Price (#5 overall) and Alex Galchenyuk (#3 overall) and drafting PK Subban in the 2nd round (43rd overall). Who could have predicted he'd still be available when it came time for the habs to draft in the 43rd position?
I think it was a mistake to extend Carey Price's contract during the offseason. His contract may very well become an albatross. Trading him before his current contract expires may have brought back the players they need in order to be truly competitive. Charlie Lingren would have been able to come in and fill in for Price's departure. Or maybe Zachary Fuchale. Look, the habs aren't going anywhere anyway with Price between the pipes for years to come. So why not roll the dice and try to acquire a few top players and prospects (plus high draft picks) by trading Price? It worked for the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche when they traded Eric Lindros to the Flyers. It worked for the Dallas Cowboys when they traded Herschel Walker to the Vikings. Why couldn't it work for the habs?
The Edmonton Oilers never announced a rebuild. They kept finishing last or close to it and wound up drafting #1 year after year. They had become a joke. But Bob Nicholson, Peter Chiarelli and Todd McLellan were hired and they finally had a competent management team. They got a very promising goalie in Cam Talbot from the Rangers and then got lucky by being able to draft a generational player like Connor McDavid and suddenly their future looks promising. Now they can continue building around McDavid but for myself the new management team had as much to do with their recent success.
Other teams were fortunate to be able to draft high-end talent on which they could build their team around. Pittsburgh was on the verge of losing the Penguins when Mario Lemieux was drafted back in 1984. The team had alerady previously filed for bankruptcy and at the time of Lemieux's arrival were still experiencing financial problems, the building was half empty game after game and they sucked on the ice. But Lemieux's arrival changed all that and the rest is history. The same scenario occurred 20 years later when the team was almost sold to Jim Balsilie who wanted to move the team to Hamilton. But the Penguins lucked out and won the draft lottery in 2005, drafting Sidney Crosby (another generation player) ahead of Anaheim who wound up having to draft Bobby Ryan instead. The Igloo suddenly filled up again, the team starting making money and along with the likes of Crosby, Geno Malkin, M-A Fleury and others became competitive and won a few Cups.
Chicago was going nowhere until they wound up drafting and acquiring the likes of Patrick Kaine (#1 overall), Dustin Keith, Jonathan Toews, Dustin Byfuglien, Patrick Sharp and others.
The problem with the habs is that i doubt the fans will agree to put up with a total rebuild like other teams did. The fans and the media will find it unacceptable that the Montreal Canadiens become the worst team in hockey. They did get lucky a few times over the years by positioning themselves to draft the likes of Carey Price (#5 overall) and Alex Galchenyuk (#3 overall) and drafting PK Subban in the 2nd round (43rd overall). Who could have predicted he'd still be available when it came time for the habs to draft in the 43rd position?
I think it was a mistake to extend Carey Price's contract during the offseason. His contract may very well become an albatross. Trading him before his current contract expires may have brought back the players they need in order to be truly competitive. Charlie Lingren would have been able to come in and fill in for Price's departure. Or maybe Zachary Fuchale. Look, the habs aren't going anywhere anyway with Price between the pipes for years to come. So why not roll the dice and try to acquire a few top players and prospects (plus high draft picks) by trading Price? It worked for the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche when they traded Eric Lindros to the Flyers. It worked for the Dallas Cowboys when they traded Herschel Walker to the Vikings. Why couldn't it work for the habs?
You don't have to announce a rebuild. You just do it. The Yankees never announced that they were rebuilding when they became sellers at the trading deadline last year. They would never say that publicly, but privately they knew they were pulling the plug on last year. They hoped they would be back in the playoffs in 2018. But instead it's playoffs in 2017 because the new guys they installed are great players.
So the Canadiens should just trade Price and Pacioretty and the way to sell it is to say "we are looking for ways to gain the financial flexibility to strengthen the team". You NEVER use negative language like "rebuild". The front office and coaches must deny any rebuild. The Yankees denied, denied, denied and the denial became a reality even last year when everyone saw what the Yankees had in Sanchez. Habs simply need to follow this example. If they simply blow the fucker up, blow it up sky high, get the treasure chest of draft picks, and also get a little lucky, they will be right back in the playoffs in 2 years. It's very doable in a capped league if you are smart about it.
So the Canadiens should just trade Price and Pacioretty and the way to sell it is to say "we are looking for ways to gain the financial flexibility to strengthen the team". You NEVER use negative language like "rebuild". The front office and coaches must deny any rebuild. The Yankees denied, denied, denied and the denial became a reality even last year when everyone saw what the Yankees had in Sanchez. Habs simply need to follow this example. If they simply blow the fucker up, blow it up sky high, get the treasure chest of draft picks, and also get a little lucky, they will be right back in the playoffs in 2 years. It's very doable in a capped league if you are smart about it.
The answer is you wait and pick your spots and figure out who to trade them to. Someone will have injuries, need a goalie or left wing and will be desperate for help and will make a panicked trade and then you heist them. Ask for a bunch of draft picks. And the more you have the better the chance you get lucky or can package them into a deal for the #1 pick. And the longer you wait the more clear it becomes who you can target for robbery of draft picks. It just takes timing and smarts. And then you collect the army of draft picks and look to move up and turn the multiple picks into a couple high ones on draft day.
I would say it is about having balls as much as brains. A GM has to be willing to put his job on the line with bold trades. He needs to roll the dice and see if he can come up with a winner. The great GMs stake themselves out in their sports with a few bold trades. So one part of it is finding the right trade partner which has an injury situation that needs to be addressed, and the other part of it is the GM has to have a pair of testicles hanging in between his legs which enables him to pull the trigger on the bold moves. Many trades do not get made because of fear, the fear of losing one's job if the trade goes to shit, the fear of fan revolt, the fear of player backlash. The GM has to say fuck it, I am pulling the trigger on this and I am going to stake my career on it. This is what they sign up for.
First of all the Yankees never went through a rebuild. The last time i checked they still had Sabathia, Pinieda, Headley, Gardner and Ellesbury. All starters. But whatever the Yankees did is irrelevant since comparing hockey and baseball are like comparing apples to oranges.
Getting rid of players is much harder in hockey since they have a hard salary cap and baseball doesn't have any. It's hard to find teams that can accomodate big contracts under their current salary cap structure. For example, a team like Toronto would love having the likes of Shea Weber and Carey Price on their team. But they wouldn't be able to fit them under their cap no matter how hard they tried. And the habs wouldn't be able to take any big contracts back since it would go against their wish to rebuild.
It would also be very difficult since many high-priced players that hockey teams need to get rid of often have non-movement clauses in their contracts. Those that don't often have a limited list of teams they'd agree to be dealt with. That's why very few trades are made in today's NHL: non-movement clauses and a hard salary cap.
And it would be next-to-impossible for habs management to sneak a rebuild under the fans and media's noses. In that city the team is under a microscope 24/7. And it'll never happen because the GM wants to hang onto his job. His job security is always attached to how competitive the team is. If the habs miss the playoffs this season i doubt Marc Bergevin hangs onto his job. Plus Geoff Molson will never allow him to go through a total rebuild since Molson wants the Bell Centre at full capacity game after game and he wants to sell his Molson beer products. For this to happen the team has to remain competitive.
So as long as Geoff Molson owns the team and as long as Marc Bergevin is the GM a total rebuild WILL NEVER HAPPEN.
Getting rid of players is much harder in hockey since they have a hard salary cap and baseball doesn't have any. It's hard to find teams that can accomodate big contracts under their current salary cap structure. For example, a team like Toronto would love having the likes of Shea Weber and Carey Price on their team. But they wouldn't be able to fit them under their cap no matter how hard they tried. And the habs wouldn't be able to take any big contracts back since it would go against their wish to rebuild.
It would also be very difficult since many high-priced players that hockey teams need to get rid of often have non-movement clauses in their contracts. Those that don't often have a limited list of teams they'd agree to be dealt with. That's why very few trades are made in today's NHL: non-movement clauses and a hard salary cap.
And it would be next-to-impossible for habs management to sneak a rebuild under the fans and media's noses. In that city the team is under a microscope 24/7. And it'll never happen because the GM wants to hang onto his job. His job security is always attached to how competitive the team is. If the habs miss the playoffs this season i doubt Marc Bergevin hangs onto his job. Plus Geoff Molson will never allow him to go through a total rebuild since Molson wants the Bell Centre at full capacity game after game and he wants to sell his Molson beer products. For this to happen the team has to remain competitive.
So as long as Geoff Molson owns the team and as long as Marc Bergevin is the GM a total rebuild WILL NEVER HAPPEN.
In fact the Yankees did rebuild and this NY Times analyzed the rebuild. It's just that it happened to go so well nobody now believes that they actually did one:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile...ome-aids-yankees-in-the-here-and-now.amp.html
And the reason why it seems like they didn't rebuild is they just did it instead of talking about it.
Montreal can do the same thing with their hockey team. I already laid out how in detail in my prior posts. That process requires a smart, bold GM who is willing to blow it up and not care what anyone thinks. It's not necessary for a GM to lose his job if he makes bold moves and they work. But if he makes bold moves and the team sucks, the fans have to be convinced the team will get better quickly. That is why the draft pick stockpile becomes important. Like I said it's already been done in the NHL and can be done again.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile...ome-aids-yankees-in-the-here-and-now.amp.html
And the reason why it seems like they didn't rebuild is they just did it instead of talking about it.
Montreal can do the same thing with their hockey team. I already laid out how in detail in my prior posts. That process requires a smart, bold GM who is willing to blow it up and not care what anyone thinks. It's not necessary for a GM to lose his job if he makes bold moves and they work. But if he makes bold moves and the team sucks, the fans have to be convinced the team will get better quickly. That is why the draft pick stockpile becomes important. Like I said it's already been done in the NHL and can be done again.
Alright if the Yankees did their so-called 'rebuild' then the Red Sox did an even better rebuild (and didn't talk about it) and so did half of the other teams in baseball. Some rebuilds work, others don't. And so far that Yankees haven't impressed me much with their so-called rebuild.
They'll be in the playoffs as a wild card team this season (thank god for the wildcard!) and will get knocked off as soon as they've hit the field. And then next season or so they'll likely undergo another one of their so-called' phantom rebuilds and may or may not make the playoffs as a wildcard (thank god for the wildcard!) and will again get knocked off as soon as they hit the field....if they do manage to squeak in and make the playoffs.
THE MONTREAL CANADIENS WILL NEVER GO THROUGH A TOTAL REBUILD. THEIR OWNER CANNOT AFFORD TO AND THE GENERAL MANAGER WANTS TO HOLD ON TO HIS JOB AND THE TEAM MUST REMAIN SOMEWHAT COMPETITIVE. AS LONG AS CAREY PRICE IS IN MONTREAL (HE'S SIGNED FOR 8 MORE YEARS) THE TEAM WILL BE COMPETITIVE.
Valid points but i actually believe that the boycott is already happening. Every game i watch i see many empty seats around the place. Every game!!! So what i do is i go online and pretend i want to buy a ticket in case what i'm seeing is a season ticket already sold. Guess what? THERE ARE ALWAYS TICKETS AVAILABLE EVERY TIME I CHECK AND I'M CHECKING HALFWAY INTO THE FIRST PERIOD ONCE THE GAME HAS ALREADY STARTED!!!
U-N-B-E-L-I-E-V-A-B-L-E.
U-N-B-E-L-I-E-V-A-B-L-E.
Similar threads
