Happy Birthday Tom Pyatt!! A cool chart of significant events on the 24-year-old’s special day is on Canadiens.com Pyatt also shares a birthday with former Habs Peter Svoboda, the late Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion. Sean Hill (b. 1970) and Bob “Shorty” Boucher, who each won Cup with the 1992-93 and 1923-24 Canadiens respectively, were also born on this day. Gotta think that given each of his Valentine’s Day predecessors has won at least one or more, a Stanley Cup certainly seems in the cards for Pyatt with that time-line!
An update on a situation from a couple days back, where I inadvertently accused the wrong Boston radio duo of slamming both the Gazette’s Pat Hickey and French-Canadians. I have noted the error on the post, and have apologized via email to the wrongly accused. I have yet to hear a reply back, so I assume it’s water under the bridge.
Now back to business on a related topic. Despite the verbal and typed exchanges last weekend, some interesting writing was overlooked. One was a piece in our FanPosts from follower Blockersave93,who gives fans of both the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins a reality check courtesy of the Detroit Red Wings. He nicely reminds us that last week’s Bruins/Habs match was just one game, and there is no need to go half-cocked about it.
“Detroit was kind enough to remind us last night, the cup isn’t going through Boston…and even if we gotta go through them, I like our chances.”
Since that post, the Red Wings did it to the Bruins again.
Now to be fair, I thought I would share a fanpost from the Bruins side.
How does he do it?: Gotta give Brian Burke some cred. Last season he managed to unload two contract blunders, from his predecessor, by moving out Jeff Blake and Vesa Toskala. Now after the acquisition of Kris Versteeg was going nowhere for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Burke sends him to the Philadelphia Flyersfor a first and third-round pick this spring. That first-rounder will likely fall in the 25 to 30 range, and this year’s class doesn’t seem to be as strong as prior years, so maybe Paul Holmgrem felt getting Versteeg was worth a good shot at the Cup either this season or next.
The Leafs get something to work with after the whole Phil Kessel deal. Unfortunately that franchise has managed to unload or screw up all of their first rounders in the last 25+ years, with the exception of Wendel Clark, so this really looks like it will pan out as a loss either way for the Blue and White. Burke is maybe giving up on the playoffs, and freeing up cap space for “our goal is to make the playoffs” Ver 2.0 next season.
Oh and by the way Leafs fans, Happy Birthday. It was this day in 1927 that Conn Smythe took over the Toronto St. Pat’s and renamed them the Toronto Maple Leafs,
So what if….So we all read how Mario Lemieux responded to the NHL’s handling of last week’s retro-70’s game between the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins. My question is, how would the NHL respond to any other franchise owner who said something like that? I guess that seeing he kept the Pens in Steeltown, and babysat the face of the NHL Sidney Crosby, he gets a pass this time.
Lemieux also comes out rather hypocritical, considering Matt Cooke is on his payroll.
Eklund, oh Eklund.. The rumor monger of the NHL comes up with an “e4” on Twitter early Tuesday evening that the “Habs also pushing hard for a deal with the Preds.” This comes almost 24 hours after the story broke that Habs scouts, and assistant GM Larry Carriere, will be scouting the Nashville Predators over the next three games.
