The Official M.E.R.B. Hockey Thread

[Doc Holliday]

Habs call-up P.K. Subban

MONTREAL-- The Montreal Canadiens have called up defenceman P.K. Subban from Hamilton of the AHL.

The Bulldogs eliminated the Manitoba Moose in the first round of the AHL playoffs Sunday, so Subban is available without hurting the Bulldogs.

The offensively-gifted 20-year-old had three goals and six assists in the Bulldogs' six-game win over the Moose. He played two games with the Habs this season with two assists.

He was the Canadiens second-round pick, 43rd overall in 2007.

Habs coach Jacques Martin benched defencemen Roman Hamrlik and Marc-Andre Bergeron for the third period of their Game 5 win.

The Canadiens are down 3-2 in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal against the Washington Capitals.

(He'll likely replace Marc-Andre 'No Defense' Bergeron or Roman 'Turtle' Hamrlik)

 

[Doc Holliday]

Today's rumors around the NHL

Robyn Regehr to the Caps?

There has already been some buzz about Robyn Regehr being a possible offseason trade candidate, and now one prominent hockey writer thinks Regehr should head to the Washington Capitals.

Hall of Fame writer Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal writes, "The more I watch the Caps, the more I think they should offer Tomas Fleischmann or Eric Fehr and a draft pick to the Calgary Flames for Robyn Regehr. Fleischmann is in the doghouse in Washington right now. He didn't get on the ice the last 12 minutes on Friday. The Caps only had six forwards play more than 10 minutes against the Habs on Friday. That's not shortening the bench by head coach Bruce Boudreau; that's cutting it in half."

Both Fehr and Fleischman are restricted free agents at the end of the year and will demand big raises. Meanwhile, the Flames are somewhat stuck in their restructuring because of big contracts like that of Jarome Iginla, Regehr and Jay Bouwmeester -- all of whom have spent time in the trade rumor mill.


Guy Boucher favorite to coach Columbus?

The hottest coaching candidate in the NHL might be Guy Boucher, and he's a candidate for both the Atlanta Thrashers' and Columbus Blue Jackets' coaching vacancies.

While some believe the favorite for the Jackets gig is Kevin Dineen, the former Jackets' player and current coach of the Portland Pirates (AHL), CBC's Elliotte Friedman has a reason why Boucher might be the guy.

"It's got to be someone who can deal with players on an individual basis," Friedman said on Hockey Night in Canada, adding that Boucher has that reputation.

This is interesting considering the Nikita Filatov situation this season with former coach Ken Hitchcock. Filatov left for the KHL midseason because he wasn't getting enough ice time.

Currently, Boucher is coaching the Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL), and there is no word whether the Bulldogs' NHL affiliate -- the Montreal Canadiens -- will let other teams talk to Boucher. But if they do, he might be the favorite for the Jackets' gig.

Also, Scott Arniel, coach of the Manitoba Moose (AHL), is a candidate as well, the Columbus Dispatch reports. Paul MacLean, Brent Peterson and Jim Playfair are in the mix, too, along with interim coach Claude Noel.


New names for Tampa GM job

We know former Minnesota Wild GM Doug Risebrough is interested in the vacant Tampa Bay Lightning GM gig, but ESPN's Pierre LeBrun said on Hockey Night in Canada that Nashville Predators assistant Paul Fenton might also be a candidate for that job.

HNIC's Glenn Healy jumped in to say Fenton is the guy behind all the moves in Nashville -- not GM David Poile -- so that might be some fodder for discussion down the road, especially if Fenton leaves.

Meanwhile, the Lightning may also look at former assistant GM Claude Loiselle as well. Loiselle was fired by former GM Brian Lawton last year in favor of 26-year-old Yale graduate Imran Khan.

There was some talk that, if Risebrough was hired, recently fired Wild assistant GM Tommy Thompson might come with him to Tampa.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Jacques Lemaire announces retirement from coaching

NEWARK, N.J. -- New Jersey Devils coach Jacques Lemaire has retired following his team's first-round playoff elimination for the third straight year.

Lemaire made the surprising announcement Monday, four days after the Devils were ousted by the Philadelphia Flyers in five games.

The 64-year-old Lemaire says he doesn't have the energy to coach anymore. He will stay with the Devils in a role yet to be determined.

Lemaire returned to the Devils last season for a second stint as coach. He led the team to the Stanley Cup in 1995.

He also held coaching jobs with the Montreal Canadiens and Minnesota Wild and was a recipient of the Jack Adams Award in 1994 and 2003. He also served as an assistant with Canada's gold medal-winning entry at the Vancouver Olympics in February.

 

[EagerBeaver]

The Canadiens have a black player out there tonight - PK Subban - I was wondering if he is the Canadien's 1st black player? I don't recall the Canadiens having any black players before. Subban looks like a decent player, he is only 20 years old and already has an assist tonight.

 

[benxxx]

The Canadiens have a black player out there tonight - PK Subban - I was wondering if he is the Canadien's 1st black player? I don't recall the Canadiens having any black players before. Subban looks like a decent player, he is only 20 years old and already has an assist tonight.

Georges Laraque, Donald Brashear...oh players...

 

[joelcairo]

The Caps can only wish they can get a deal like the Bruins got for Phil Kessel: two first-rounders and a second-rounder.

No kidding - of course that would be their wish! Sadly for the Caps, though, Burke has already traded away his picks and it's unlikely any other GM would be naive enough to have his pockets picked the way Boston picked Toronto's!

 

[Techman]

The Canadiens have a black player out there tonight - PK Subban - I was wondering if he is the Canadien's 1st black player? I don't recall the Canadiens having any black players before. Subban looks like a decent player, he is only 20 years old and already has an assist tonight.

Remember that name. He's the star player of the Hamilton Bulldogs and he'll be playing the entire season for the habs next year. There are tons of his highlites on youtube...

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=pk+subban&aq=0

 

[lgna69xxx]

totally agree, Subban is a great talent.

Remember that name. He's the star player of the Hamilton Bulldogs and he'll be playing the entire season for the habs next year. There are tons of his highlites on youtube...

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=pk+subban&aq=0

 

[EagerBeaver]

Remember that name. He's the star player of the Hamilton Bulldogs and he'll be playing the entire season for the habs next year. There are tons of his highlites on youtube...

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=pk+subban&aq=0

So Benxxx mentioned a couple guys I forgot about (Larocque and Brashear) who are known as goons/enforcer types. Is PK Subban the first skilled black player to play for Montreal?

 

[Techman]

I'd say so. He amy be the most skilled black player I've ever seen lace up the skates. Time will tell though if he has what it takes to make it in the NHL. I think he does. He's also a right handed shot, something that's sorely lacking on the habs' lineup.

 

[Doc Holliday]

So Benxxx mentioned a couple guys I forgot about (Larocque and Brashear) who are known as goons/enforcer types. Is PK Subban the first skilled black player to play for Montreal?

Francis Bouillon, now playing for Nashville, is a fairly decent player. He played his entire career with the Habs until this season.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Jaroslav Halak was simply miraculous last night. He stopped 53 out of 54 shots. He's making it very difficult for Habs management to part with him. His agent, Allan Walsh, has big $$ signs in his eyes these days. Halak will likely be a wealthy hockey player next summer, once he signs a big contract as a free agent.

I'm starting to think that he'll foil the team's plans & they'll come to their senses & sign him instead of Carey Price. The fans also love Halak. So does his coach (if he's back behind the bench next season). It's starting to think that Carey Price might be playing somewhere else in the States next year, maybe in Philly or Florida.

 

[benxxx]

Francis Bouillon, now playing for Nashville, is a fairly decent player. He played his entire career with the Habs until this season.

Francis bouillon is black?!?

 

[EagerBeaver]

Francis bouillon is black?!?

Racially he is classified as a mulatto. The bigger question is whether he is actually a skilled player. Subban is going to be named MVP of the AHL and is +46. Bouillon has never had more than 22 points in an NHL season. His career plus/minus is -19. This is not skilled hockey. He is not MVP of his own team and arguing that he was MVP for any team he ever played on would only elicit laughter even from the most diehard Canadiens fan. Bouillon is a journeyman type NHL player. 113 points in 566 games is not skilled hockey.

Here are the stats which speak for themselves:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/players/stats?playerId=93

What I had asked was what good black players played for the Canadiens prior to Subban. If the answer is Larocque, Brashear, and Boullon, I would say none. Subban looks like he could be the first.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Racially he is classified as a mulatto. The bigger question is whether he is actually a skilled player.

Bouillion can easily be considered a skill player. Just look at his size. He's barely five feet tall! Prior to joining the Habs, he was fantastic playing the point in Quebec City (AHL). However, he likely won't be regarded as being as offensively gifted as Subban is once the latter's career begins to take off.

I repeat: Bouillion was as gifted offensively as Subban was when he played in the same league (AHL) that Subban played in these past couple of years.

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

Racially he is classified as a mulatto.

Beav, the term is mixed-race, or multiracial. The word mulatto went out with Negro.

From Wikipedia, "In addition, the term "mulatto" was also used to refer to the offspring of whites who intermarried with South Asian indentured servants brought over to the British American colonies by the East India Company. For example, a Eurasian daughter born to an East Asian father and Irish mother in Maryland in 1680 was classified as a "mulatto" and sold into slavery.[30] Although still in use, in the last half century the term mulatto has fallen out of favor among some people and may be considered offensive by some in the United States. Today the preferred terms are generally biracial, multiracial, mixed-race and multiethnic. Note, for example, that President Barack Obama is never referred to as mulatto, although he had a white American mother and a black Kenyan father."

Oh, and by the way, I really don't know much about hockey. I just stopped in here to see how our Ignarant was enjoying the taste of crow. I see he's under his rock.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Why dont you just ask what good black hockey players ever played in the NHL? Can u name just 2 good ones.

Mike Greer & Grant Fuhr. I'll even add Tony McKegney.

Subban will be a superstar in this league no doubt about it. Maybe he will encourage more black kids to play hockey in he future.

Yeah, right. Most black kids can't afford to play organized hockey. The cost of the equipment (and travelling expenses) is sky-high for lower income families. Even middle-income families would say the same thing. That's a big reason why you have so many black baseball & basketball players. It doesn't cost as much to play these sports.

Your hockey knowledge,or lack of, never ceases to amaze me.

In the future, keep your ignorant comments to yourself if you don't want to start a flame war, which i'll be glad to do if you insist. At the very least, keep them out of this thread. If you can't adhere to those rules, just go post elsewhere. Comprende?

 

[EagerBeaver]

Why dont you just ask what good black hockey players ever played in the NHL? Can u name just 2 good ones.

Grant Fuhr (considers himself black although he was raised by a white family that adopted him, is acknowledged as 1st black Hall of Famer)
Jarome Iginla (perhaps can be classified as multiracial but certainly looks black/African)

 

[Doc Holliday]

Grant Fuhr is not black, he is biracial. Greer and McKegney are journeymen.

In my books, anyone with a black parent is black, period. Just like Tiger Woods. And, since when are journeymen not considered good hockey players?

Also add Jarome Iginla to the list of pretty good hockey players.

Subban will be a superstar in this league no doubt about it.

Another stoopid comment by our resident dunce. Second-round picks rarely become superstars. Some of them become good hockey players. Subban had 42 other players chosen ahead of him in his draft year. If he remains in Mtl, a place known for the worse fans in professional sports & its nutty demanding media, the potential for his NHL career to be a promising one will hit a speedbump until he's finally liberated like former Habs were (e.g. Guillaume Latendresse, John Leclaire, Mike Ribeiro, etc, etc...) and finally be given the chance to ply his trade elsewhere without the pressure he's likely to experience in Mtl. Of course, he should expect the crassy Mtl fans to boo him the next time he'll play at the Bell Center....that's what they're good at over there....boo their former players.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Today's rumors around the NHL (from ESPN)

Halak expected to break the bank

Jaroslav Halak has had quite the playoffs and, if he can pull out a Game 7 win against the Washington Capitals, his postseason will continue.

But whatever happens, we might see quite the standoff between Halak and the Habs this offseason. CBC's Elliotte Friedman writes, "Jaroslav Halak will not re-sign there unless Montreal makes an obscene offer."

There's going to be a lot of pressure in Montreal to get Halak locked up, but if Halak demands something out of the Habs' comfort zone, they could always trade Halak and go with Carey Price. A few months ago, this is what most people thought would happen anyway.

But, for now, it looks like Halak has staked his claim on the starting job in Montreal. And if he leads them past the Caps, and perhaps beyond, he actually might get this "obscene" contract he's planning to ask for.


Lecavalier's future will depend on new GM

Vincent Lecavalier' future depends on whoever is hired as the new Lightning GM, but CBC's Elliotte Friedman write that we new owner Jeff Vinik is open to keeping him around.

We've heard this before, and we've heard Vinik wants to at least give Lecavalier a chance to prove himself to the new guard. But if, somehow, the new GM really wants to get rid of Lecavalier, then there are already ideas on where he might go.

Previously, the Tampa Tribune wrotes, "Who knows, maybe they can work a deal with a contender and make it appealing enough for Vinny to accept a trade."

Also SI.com's Jim Kelley wrote, "Don't think it can't be done. There are teams beyond Montreal that can absorb Lecavalier's salary, and GMs who think they can get him back to his true playing ability," adding that the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers could get in on this.


Coach Scott Stevens?

Yesterday, E.J. Hradek said the New Jersey Devils likely want to find a tested head coach to replace the retired Jacques Lemaire, at least until Martin Brodeur hang up the pads.

But the Newark Star-Ledger has a wild idea of an inexperienced guy who could take over: Scott Stevens. The paper writes: "No experience, but players would listen. Would need to be surrounded with capable assistants. It's not Lamoriello's style to hire an totally inexperienced head coach and Stevens has been anxious to leave home for long periods of time at this stage of his life. An extremely long shot."

OK, so it's a long shot. In fact, the Star-Ledger thinks Devils assistnat Mario Tremblay is the favorite to take over, putting former Columbus Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock at No. 2.

And, in fact, it seems there's a lot of steam for Hitchcock. The New York Post's Larry Brooks also thinks Hitchcock is a candidate, while saying AHL coach John MacLean should also be considered.

And Hradek also thinks Hitchcock might be the guy.

Other potential candidate, as per the above-mentioned experts: Guy Boucher, Bob Hartley, Mike Keenan and Larry Robinson.