Holy Campoli, more like Holy Shit!

Remember what I wrote about panic moves! Probably not since nobody reading this shitty blog anyway. Go read my previous post...


Alright let assume you are up to date I said Gauthier was under tremendous pressure to deliver now or face a clean up imposed from the top soon. I also said that he was the lesser of two evil better him GM than another Rejean Houle. So yesterday Gauthier made another move that reflected his ejection seat situation. Defensively the Habs spent the better part of the camp throwing shit at the wall to see what stick the problem was none of it did. The two reason why they did it is that beyond Markov, Subban and Gorges the talent drop faster than an ACME anvil on top of Wile E. Coyote and Markov setback make that only two quality d-man likely to start the season. The rest are either getting too old Spacek, Gill not good enough Weber or had a so so camp Yemelin. And all the kids at least on defense are NHL ready.


Gauthier boss/owner who just paid a shitload of money for the fabled franchise and may well be eyeing the GM/Coach ejection button a lot lately. Picture a black box with a big red button under a  breakable glass cover. If press it will send a signal to a team of lawyers who are on 24 hours standby ready to draft Pierre Gauthier "resignation" letter. While two security guard also on constant standby will escort him to his car with his stuff in two cardboard box. lolll Yeah it not likely to end that way only the small fish in the corporate ladder get treated like shit!


After all none of these guys are his men and a new owner is really tempted the clean house even under the best of circumstance. When he look at his new team throwing money down the drain (Gomez) Mr Molson is likely getting heartburn. Make no mistake this is roster that got a middle of the pack result at best while spending to the cap in the past two years. And with slim to no chance at a meaningful playoff run except for a fluke Halakinan run. Hell if it was my money I would have likely fire just about everybody in management on day one after closing the sale.  


With all of that in mind and some salary cap left Pierre Gauthier addressed a clear need for a fourth or third D by snatching free agent Chris Campoli. Will that be enough to actually give the team some defense stability? Maybe but let pray that Markov will be back really soon. While Campoli stats are not stellar you can make the case that he played for some pretty rotten teams except the Hawks. Having bad stats on a shit team is like getting V.D from a crack whore you can't help it. Off course you can and should stay away from a crack whore but until you reach UFA status you can't really not play for the teams that draft you or trade for you.


Not everything is dark and cloudy Cole feel like a great addition, MaxPac is back in force and by the look of it Cammaleri is back to Super Saiyan 3 shape shit even Gomez looked good lately. The other good news the throw everything at the wall camp was not a total waste of time at least in offence where some guys did stick. Brendan Galagher may well be the one sticking around and good for him! He got a chance because the team still got some spot needing filling and with Eller not likely making it to the opener maybe somebody else will stick around. So two weeks left of camp and only two pre-season game left time to get serious.  

Enough with the bullshit!

Seriously do you really believe the Habs injury list is that long. If so I got some everglade swamp land I like to sell you real cheap!!! The thinking by Montreal management is simple they rather stink up the join in the pre-season with AHL players who are mostly not ready for primetime than risk losing a major piece! The problem is fans are paying good money to watch this sorry spectacle. At least be honest about it and maybe if you got to charge something for tickets to these crappy game make them a charity events. Don't be surprise if come October 6 almost everybody healthy "comme par magie". 


This bring another subject. To be this cautious Jacques Martin and Pierre Gauthier must be under some serious pressure to deliver NOW not in 2013 not in 2014 right fucking NOW. Nothing bad with that unless off course it lead to some rather idiotic panic move.


Geoff Molson must be itching to clean house already. He and his family just bought the damn thing for like the fifth or sixth time in franchise history. (I lost count) Make up your fucking mind about that you want to own it or not? If Gauthier not careful the next Irving Grundman or Réjean Houle will end up GM! lolll By the way that would be an unmitigated disaster better a professional GM than one of these idiot shove in during a panic move. Even if he's a loner who creepily call everyone of his players "Mister" at least he know his job! He's not a former bowling alley manager or your former marketing VP but Pierre Gauthier is a Pro NHL Gm! 

Redemption time!

So the Habs have seeded 6 and are meeting the Bruins again in the first round. They won the first game but I come back to this later. This is Redemption time for many Habs players.

Redemption list.

1: Carey Price (Status almost halfway there.) Great season with a team that came very close to fall apart many times. But to totally make peoples forget Halak he need that ring.

2: Scott Gomez (Status badly needed) Crap season need great playoff run badly before Gauthier find an European team to park his ass.

3: Jacques Martin (Status desperate) 600+ wins 20+ years in the NHL but no cup. Martin is not getting younger and with the crop of new coach's earning their stripes in the NHL right now is likely his last coaching job. Nobody want and need that ring more than Martin.

4: Mike Cammalleri (Status high expectation.) After an amazing Rocket Richard like playoff run last year Mike had a somewhat deflated season. He need to go Super Sayan again if the habs have any hope of going deep.

5: Tomas Plekanec (Status reputation on the line.) Slower season than last year plus many critic have been saying fairly or not that Plekanec did a disappearing act in last year playoff.

6: Hal Gill (Status UFA this Summer and not getting any younger.) On a team that could re-sign Hamrlik, Gorges, Markov not to mention Wisniewski and Sopel... USS Hal Gill need to remind the Habs and the rest of the league why he's still worth the big bucks at 36.

7: Hamrlik, Wisniewski and Sopel (Status UFA this Summer) See Hal Gill

9: The rest (Status highly motivated) The Montreal Canadiens are a team in transition with an aging blue line and many prime assets in the minors this team will change a lot in the near future so for many it now or never. The Habs could easily take a major step back and fall under the 8th line next season for the fans and management it would be a less bitter pill to swallow if they were to add a banner! 1 down 15 to go we can always dream!  

Something is rotten in the NHL kingdom!

I resisted the urge for a while now. The "Chara incident" was commented, analyzed and deconstructed 
to death by anybody who anybody both in 
mainstream media and the Hockey blogosphere. 
I don't want to talk much about intent or if Chara is 
considered a clean player. But I will say that it a bullshit 
excuse being used by apologists. 
These apologists forget one rule in life your intent is worth squat. 


If you ran a red light and hit somebody breaking his neck 
do you think your "intent" will get you a break in court? 
If you drive drunk and kill somebody do you think anybody will 
give a shit about your intention? Pro Sports does not exist in some kind of bubble where civil society does not exist anybody who pretend otherwise should be considered an idiot and dismissed as such. 


The Chara hit was dirty but here the problem by the NHL fuck up standard it was not. The NHL consider that Chara is totally innocent because they decided a long time ago that they don't care how many guys get hurt as long as they get plenty of "Big Hit" to fill all their highlight reels. And anybody who subscribed to the NHL channel on YouTube would tell you the league is obsessed with Big Hit and highlight reel. The excuse that what Chara did happen all the time is just that an excuse to do nothing about reckless hit.


The NHL safety standards are a joke the other excuse I heard by the apologists is that the Bell Center is nefarious for being a dangerous place to play. Guess what the Bell Center is a modern NHL standard rink like almost all the arena of the NHL if the Bell Center rink is dangerous they all are. Ever wonder why every team in the league got many D-men hurt recently? About a little more than a decade ago players started using composite hockey stick that weight next to nothing nobody said anything at the time but it like Major League Baseball letting players use aluminium bat. That the kind of NHL safety standards that lead to this festering mess.


The real problem are the apologists both inside and outside the NHL upper management these enablers are responsible for NHL safety standards that let players wear and use just about any equipment they want and turn a blind eye on reckless hit and erratic disciplinary decision that leave players scratching their head. The apologists are scared that if you take away hit to the head and clean up the sports the next step will be fighting. If you think this situation will change anytime soon you are naive my friend. Reform will only come when the owners want it and most of them just don't give a shit about players safety. To reform the NHL you have clean up the whole upper management to really see a culture change and the current crop of owners are just not interested in doing so now but who knows maybe after the next CBA we can only hope.
   

Gauthier deserve better than some of the shit he's taking!

This is an answer to Dissecting Pierre Gauthier By JD

Anaheim was an expansion team in 93 I never heard of an expansion team who made the playoff in year one. In 96 a year after he left the team that he build reached the Conference Semifinal. The Senators were pretty much in the same boat when Gauthier joined them and after 2 years of not making the playoff they did and reached the playoff for the rest of the decade.

We are not talking about a coach here. General Managers rarely if ever affect the direction of a team overnight. Gauthier had a bad second run in Anaheim but guest what the year that he left the team that he build reached the Stanley cup final. The Ducks that Gauthier build had success after he left reaching the conference two season later and winning the cup three season later. So one can conclude that Gauthier is leaving teams in better shape than when he get them. That the curse of an NHL GM they get the job when a team is in deep shit and are expected to fix them overnight and they also get fired before they can enjoy the fruit of their labor.

While I consider that the Habs scouting was pretty damn crappy at best in the past two decade Gauthier can't be blamed for anything prior to 2003 and even after the puck stop with the GM and the GM was Gainey. One should also note that the first big move that Gauthier made as GM of the Montreal Canadiens was fire the whole scouting staff. That may indicate that Gauthier was of my opinion that scouting was a problem for the Habs and he acted to fix that problem. I don't particularly like the man but I believe that we should judge him after a few years at the helm. He may not be Sam Pollock but he's no Réjean Houle either.

From fluke run to solid challenger part 2 the power rankings are out!

Most of the power rankings list are out and it does not look like the Habs great week got them much love except from Brian Metzer on Versus.com

ESPN Pierre LeBrun 7 this week 14 last week

7 (14) Canadiens 11-5-1It's a pleasure to hand the Habs their season-high placing in the Power Rankings as I visit the NHL's favorite road stop this week. The Canadiens are on fire, but were humbled by the loss (once again) of top blueliner Andrei Markov.

Brian Metzer Versus.com This week 5 last week 8

5. Montreal Canadiens (8)

Underrated Plekanec becoming a star.

Scott Morrison CBCsports.ca This week 6 last week no idea 

6. MONTREAL CANADIENS

Record: 11-5-1 (23 pts)

Last 10 games: 7-3-0

Loss of Markov will hurt, but they're getting used to it. 

National post NHL Ranking First list of the season This week 6

6. Montreal Canadiens (11-5-1)

Carey Price currently unfamiliar with the word "pressure."

Brophy's NHL Power Rankings Sporstnet.ca This week 6 last week 7 

(11-5-1) With eight points in his past four games Tomas Plekanec is earning the big contract he was rewarded with last summer.

Scott Cullen TSN 8 this week 11 last week

This Week 6 Last Week 11 Montreal Canadiens11-5-1

If Andrei Markov is indeed out for an extended period with another knee injury, the Canadiens will need Alexandre Picard (plus-7 in nine games this year) to fill a regular role, especially now that Ryan O'Byrne is gone to Colorado. 

Key Injuries: D Andrei Markov (knee).


CAPPERSTICKS Blog This week 8 first ranking of the season
8. Montreal Canadiens (11-5-1): Ca-rey! Ca-rey! Underneath the deafening chants of Mr. Price’s name in Montreal, you can barely hear “Halak” anymore.

From fluke run to solid challenger where do the Habs sit?

When will the Habs be taken seriously? Hey like everybody else I did it after the last playoff I was pretty negative on their future chances of going deep again. In fact I was really piss off that the Habs just gone cold with only 7 wins to go for a cup because I also felt it was a one time ting! Some of the labels used was "Lightning in a bottle" "fluke run" more respectfully "Cinderella run" or it all Halak and Cammy. While Halak was a big factor and his trade spelled doom for most observers including myself the Canadiens pretty much picked up where they left off after the Pens round.

We can't talk fluke run or easy calendar anymore! Not when the team sit on top their division with barely a few points behind Washington in the conference. Not after crushing the Canes 7-2 limiting the Bruins to one goal in a 3-1 win and a 2-0 shutout against the Canucks in the same week! The Power Play also came back to life with 6 goals in three game this week! This is a team that did great with almost no power play production what would they do now that they do get some?

Now that nobody can't use the calendar to put down the Habs what would be the next excuse? What would be the next thing that keep them from being ranked way higher than 10 on most power rankings.
My money on Markov injury!
Update: This is a two part post Tomorrow I report on how well the Habs did in most power rankings!

I ain't got nothing to bitch about!

Am gonna let you in on a little secret of life blogging is a lot about bitching. In fact to blog usually you need to have something to bitch about to get you started. In that respect the Habs are getting frustratingly better. They put away both the Canucks and Bruins the power play produced 3 out of 5 goals in the past two games. Gionta got two and Gomez finally got one! So what the fuck is left to blog/bitch about?

Can't bitch about the O'Byrne trade. With a defense playing the way they did so far who would you sit to play the guy? Hell even Spacek is doing better now I would not play him on the power play like Martin did last night but so far so good. The trade did leave the Habs 1.5 million of cap space so speculation are rampant on the twitterverse on what Gauthier is cooking. But if the power play is getting to a more normal standard Pierre can afford to take a wait and see attitude.

See what I just did I found a way to blog/bitch about the Habs leaving me with nothing to blog/bitch about! It good enough for one day let just hope we get something more to chew on soon! loll Seriously I say let the good time roll and we find something else to bitch about soon enough!

Riddle me this habs fans! My car is on the fritz!

My car got some serious mechanical problem.
The engine is a mix bag of working parts and parts that are leaking oil it can't hold highway speed for more than 40 minutes. Plus the next day after a ride forget it my car not starting unless it boosted. The front breaks are brand new but the back are old and about to give on me plus I can't find new replacement parts, my credit card is max out and nobody would trade with me for my old parts at the meet swap.
The power steering is loose and there 7 millions persons who think they can drive my car better than me!
Who am I?

Law of intended consequence!

First erratum apparently you should never blog in the middle of the night half asleep or half drunk it make you forget to check some facts like can a team send down players who are 35 or older in the minor to save cap space! Unfortunately for me and the Habs you can't! Fortunately for me nobody read my shitty blog in the middle of the night anyway who am I kidding nobody reading this shit period!


Why was Halak traded anyway? Wrong question why was Halak traded to a western conference team? Every time a team move a player that may become a franchise player it always easier to dump him in the conference you don't play in. This is especially true of goalies the thinking is that since you don't get to play that team on the other conference many time it not going to bite you on the ass too much if the player is say the next Patrick Roy! Am not going to discuss the idiocy of trading away that kind of asset because you know my view on the matter and the deed done. Plus it help that Price is having a good start!


This is an intended consequence that is well known another one less discussed is that you may get to steal points away from conference rivals. If the player really become a franchise player and help his team win more they will meet and likely defeat many teams in your own conference. take a look at the blues schedule and result for October.

Results October Saint Louis Blues

Sat Oct 9, 2010 Flyers Blues 7:00 PM FINAL PHI (1) - STL (2) OT    Recap                                          

Mon Oct 11, 2010 Ducks Blues 1:00 PM FINAL ANA (1) - STL (5)   Recap                                          


Thu Oct 14, 2010 Blues Predators 7:00 PM FINAL STL (3) - NSH (4)   Recap                                            

Sat Oct 16, 2010 Blues Stars 7:30 PM FINAL STL (2) - DAL (3) SO   Recap                                          


Mon Oct 18, 2010 Blues Blackhawks 7:30 PM FINAL STL (2) - CHI (3) OT   Recap                                            

Fri Oct 22, 2010 Blackhawks Blues 7:00 PM FINAL CHI (2) - STL (4)   Recap   

Sat Oct 23, 2010 Penguins Blues 7:00 PM FINAL PIT (0) - STL (1) OT   Recap   

Thu Oct 28, 2010 Blues Predators 7:00 PM FINAL STL (3) - NSH (0)   Recap   

Sat Oct 30, 2010 Thrashers Blues 7:00 PM FINAL ATL (3) - STL (4) SO   Recap   

Out of six possible points for the Eastern conference the Flyers, Penguins and Thrashers managed to make only one each. It would be better if the Blues did not give away so many loser points but still it three points! The Blues are playing the Bruins today and the Rangers tomorrow later this month they will play the Devils and the Senators. While they will play the Habs once later this season all the points that they get off Eastern conference team may well make the difference for the Habs at the end of the season. Remember the Habs made the playoff by one point last year. If Montreal does not waiver too much and fix their fucking power play it may not matter but if it come to a nail bitter those points might make a big deal! So Go Halak Go!

Now this is where things get dicey what if both team have great playoff run and end up meeting in the final. That the very definition of the law of unintended consequence. Gauthier chicken might come to roost at the worse possible time! With so many team having a crappy season so far it a real possibility.                                                

Habs aging blue line!

Roman Hamrlik and Jaroslav Špaček are 36 years old Hal Gill is just a year younger at 35 between them they will cost the Montreal Canadiens around 15 Millions of cap space this year! And two of the three are UFA next Summer.

Just saying that was enough cap space to keep Halak and still sign Plekanec last Summer with enough left for a top 6 forward to back up Gomez/Gionta and an extension for Markov and the amazing Andrei Kostitsyn next season. Gauthier gambled on Price and it look to have pay off so let sleeping dogs lies. It was a bold move and it a shame that it was the only one Gauthier is willing to make so far. The Habs have a lot of cap space that could be used right now to get out of their power play rot and maybe get two line that produce instead of one if they are willing to bury bad money!

If Gauthier was bold enough to sell it to the owners group one of these old horse could be put to pasture in the AHL for cap space now or better yet let find a sucker in the NHL for Spacek! The Habs have a really good defensive right now the problem is it not centered around these guys! Forget Hal Gill the Habs need his size and playoff clutch play but you could easily remove Spacek and Hamrlik from that blue line and the Habs will not be all the worse for wear! Even more now that Markov is back Subban and Gorges make whoever play with them look a hell of a lot better than they are. Bring Weber and Carle up and put Picard back where he belong with Subban.  O'Byrne deserve either a real shot or a trade and rumor as it he will get traded maybe the Habs could kill three birds with one stone! The future belong to those who are brave and bold enough to seize it! The question is will Gauthier move?

Jekyll and Hyde again!

Another week of Jekyll and Hyde play from the Habs. Three games two wins against the Senators and one loss to the Devils! How is a 2-1 week a bad thing? It not except 4 out of 7 goals came from the Plekanec line and while it great that the team got at least one line that produce when they don't score nobody else does and we lose by shutout against the Devils. A team that can't even afford to have a real roster to face us by the way! 


By all account the Habs had a cakewalk of a month with many teams they faced being in worse shape than they are. Hell the two wins this week was against a team that had the second worse start of the season. While it a good thing to help with Price confidence and Markov never ending bad luck in the short term it not going to last. The easy points wasted now are going to bite the Habs in the ass by the end of the season!


Players of the week:  Subban, AK, Plekanec and Price.
Ghost of the week: Gomez and the Power Play for a third week in a row!
Sign of hope: Markov is close to being day to day and Pouliot finally put one in!


So while the disaster season that I predicted is thankfully not materializing yet their still enough sore spot to worry about.

What if the Habs had more home games!

It ridiculous the prices of tickets in Montreal but yet they sell out every home games! And the Habs are not alone the top five NHL market can sell their tickets at outrageous price and still sell out everyone of their games! This beg the question, why every team get to play 41 home game? This is a league that got about 5 teams selling out every game at scandalous price and five team that cannot fill half their arena if they gave away the tickets for free! 


An easy fix is to have those big market play 51 home games and split the extra earning with the visiting team 40/40/20. 40% goes to the big market home team 40% goes to the small market visiting team 20% goes to the league.


40% off a sell out crowd in Montreal is worth a lot more than 100% off an half empty arena that the average ticket price for the few peoples who actually turn up was 30 bucks! You know what you get for $30 at the Bell Center? The price of parking on game night plus half your first beer!
If you're a top earner and are keeping this league afloat should your fan base be rewarded with more home game? And if you're a small market hemorrhaging money 31 home games to sell is a lot easier than 41 plus the added rarity mean that you're likely be able to ask more for tickets on average.
The Islanders with their No Habs No campaign is not really targeting Islanders fans by the way it directed at attracting even more Habs fans so let take the next logical step in the new CBA!        

You lose some and you win some! And sometime fate is just a fucking Bitch!

So the Habs are now 2-1-1. Five points out of eight considering the anemic power play the fact that no team really dominated the Habs and that Price is not yet the utter epic failure that I predicted it not so bad a start. If the Habs can win tonight against the Senators we can consider this to even be a good start. By all account they could do worse! The Sens, Pens, Devils and Sabres are all having a worse start than the Habs and while it not a surprise when it come to the Devils considering their recent roster shenanigan it is for the rest of that group. 


The big surprise come from the Leafs who are now 4-0 and while I will not call them "The Laugh" for a while I fear that Toronto fans are in for a rude awakening when their team face teams who are in better shape than the Habs, Sens, Pens and Rangers. My money is on reality coming to bite them in the ass next Saturday October 23! Truth be told it way too early for anybody to make any conclusion on this season start after all right now the Islander are in eight place and the Bruins played only just 2 games. 


On a positive note Gorges got the power play monkey off the Habs back yesterday! 
I feel George Carlin will curse me from his grave for using the wrong expression but what the fuck it worth being haunted for a while. Hell being visited by the ghost of Carlin is something I would consider an honor anyway! loll  

While waiting for Markov!

The Habs are now 1-1-1! One win, One defeat and One overtime defeat! Worse yet the Habs have not scored a single power play goal since the season started. Not exactly panic time but it still leave a bad taste in my mouth. The absence of Markov is a big drag and Subban is being overused to compensate. While the kid is great he will make rookie mistakes and the more you use him the more likely he is to make them and that what happen yesterday. On a positive note AK scored a great goal and maybe that will help jump start his career. Pouliot well what can I say maybe the Habs need to start looking somewhere else to back the Gomez and Gionta duo! That the big problem of that team they got one great duo and one good duo but no great or even good trio! Last time I check a forward line in hockey is composed of three dudes not two! So it clear that the Habs are missing a piece or two to be a real contender.


On a very positive note to end this middle of the week post the Price maybe right after all that was another solid night for Carey.  

Mind fuck!

Last night game was well not great but good enough at least if you're an Habs fans! On the other hand if you're a Pens fan you got to wonder if the Habs are not mind fucking the Pittsburgh Penguins! The Pens were frustrated and off their game for most of the first period. The only thing that kept them in the game is the Habs incapacity at capitalizing on the power play and one sided officiating. M.A.B gone and Markov absence is hurting the team power play a lot something to fix this must be done. Because of Markov bad luck the Habs cannot depend solely on him coming back and staying healthy.

In both Markov and Hammer absence Subban was pretty much the number one defenseman and number one target, thank god he look like the real stuff. On another positive note Carey Price had a solid game and actually kept the team in the game for most of it. One might have issues with the second Pens goal but it is to be expected and Price did not collapse after that. So except for the second period the Habs had a good game. If they start playing 60 minutes soon they might just have a good season at least good enough to avert the disaster that I predicted!      

Is it time for Hamrlik to go the Swiss way?

Mathieu Carle will in all likelihood be put on waiver this morning and it likely that somebody will snatch him up. It would be good news for Carle who might get a better chance to make the NHL somewhere else and it bad news for the Habs who will lose another asset that they failed to develop in house! It a failure to make space for the kids to develop that will hurt the team the most in the long run. The roster is pretty much fixed in stone and it was before the camp even started!

This beg the question what the hell is Hamrlik still doing with the Habs? Even if we don't have Markov for a couple of months so what Hamrlik is also hurt! So it time to save cap space by sending his ass to some swiss team like the Blackhawk just did with Huet! Now Mathieu Carle may not be a prime asset but he's not the only kid that Montreal could have promoted this year! It time to make bolder move by making some space for the kids if you are willing to gamble this much on Price you might as well be all in!

And so it begin!

The Habs have played their first pre-season game last night and thing did not go so well for Carey Price...
Now am not one to say "Told you so!" and the booing was very premature but I do believe this is just a glimpse of the shape of things to come. Thing may and will likely get a hell of a lot worse for the 23 years old "not a kid anymore" Price! You think last night was bad just wait until their 2 points on the line! Just FYI we will "Chill Out" we you have one good period! For the sake of fairness the whole team looked disorganized in the first period but an elite number one goaltender is expected to keep his team in the game when that happen Price was not even average but it a pre-season game and accident are bound to happen.

So let put all that drama aside and look at the positive note of this first pre-season game.
Weber got a wicked shot if he use it more he might end up a superstar in the NHL! Palushaj and Leblanc have a bright future in the NHL they both are not making the team out of camp but we can expect that they are first on the line for injury call up. When the team finally settled down they turned thing around, it may have been too late for this game but it looked a lot tighter.

It time for the fucking season to start!

We are still a month away from the start of the season and every NHL fans out there are on the edge. NHL Bloggers are tearing each other up when they don't have a pissing contest with the MSM, you know those so called real sports journalist...
But I digress everybody out of subjects right now because every subject was milked to death!

Kovalchuk: Thank god that drama over!
Carey Price: Signed for two years.   

What else? Actually we got nothing else and we still have one damn month to wait for the start of the NHL season! At least training camp is about to start. I could pull a rumor out of my ass but that somebody else specialty! The current situation beg the question should the NHL start the season in the middle of September? They could still play 82 games you just move a few Sunday afternoon bore fest in the middle of the season for a few Saturday night happening in the middle of September!

NHL players on twitter. To follow or not?

So Hockey fans, Habs fans and bless your heart Leafs fans do you follow NHL players who are on twitter? I know I don't because they never say anything interesting anymore, mind you that a problem with pro athletes in general.

These guys make millions and are so afraid to jeopardize their status that we never heard anything but rehash cliché from them! While I can't always mute, escape or skip a cliché filled TV/Radio/Newspaper interview I got no reason to go out of my way to follow players who bore me to death! Where are the Roy, Carbonneau, Lafleur and Ali of the current NHL, can you think of anyone? 

The last interesting quotes from an hockey players was about sloppy seconds and Sean Avery got so much grief over it I bet he never said anything but cliché after the incident!

Updated: And if you happen to know NHL players who are actually interesting to follow on twitter add them in the comments bellow.