Ann 2Canadiens Acquire Schneider, Send Sergei Kostitsyn To Hamilton, & “Rest” Kovalev
February 18th 2009 05:25
After a disastrous road trip out West that will end on the East coast on Thursday, GM Bob Gainey has decided to make some changes. And for the usually quiet GM, these changes were big.
First, the Canadiens confirmed the acquisition of veteran defenseman Mathieu Schneider from the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for a couple of picks. Schneider's huge salary - $5.625 million this year, he becomes a UFA this summer – will be absorbed by Robert Lang's season-ending injury which allowed the Canadiens to put the center in the injured reserve list. His salary will thus not count against the cap, leaving space for Schneider's. With nine defensemen on the roster after the new addition, Ryan O'Byrne was sent back to Hamilton since he's the only blueliner eligible for a return to the minors. As for Schneider's potential contribution to the team, here's what McKeen's Hockey Yearbook says about him:
Gainey's second move was to send the younger Kostitsyn brother to the Bulldogs along with O'Byrne. Since his reputation as a player who's partying hard and not doing enough on the ice has recently started to cement itself among Montreal fans, the timing for this move is simply perfect. In Hamilton, he will go back to riding the bus, no late-night clubs over there (as far as I know) to distract him away from the game. I hope that the demotion will light a fire under his ass like it did for Maxime Lapierre last season.
Finally, the big move that has become front-page news on every hockey-related website is Gainey's decision to keep Kovalev in Montreal instead of traveling with the team tomorrow (today now). The Russian is currently having a terrible season in Montreal punctuated by his apparent lack of effort during games. Gainey said that the rest should give him the opportunity to clear his head, but you have to wonder if it's not a test to see how the team will play without him. When Koivu is out of the line-up and Kovalev in, the team usually wins or at least plays better. Now we'll know what kind of team Montreal has without the enigmatic winger. But then again, two games is not enough to judge how the team will fare. The team will probably play better because players will be afraid to get benched now that everyone knows that no one is really untouchable, but they might drop off their production next week. So, the real test here will be to see how Kovalev reacts when he rejoins his teammates; that is if he isn't traded before then.
Meanwhile, there are two games reviews that I haven't posted yet (last Friday and Sunday). I thought this post deserved priority, so I'll put up the reviews as soon as I can.
First, the Canadiens confirmed the acquisition of veteran defenseman Mathieu Schneider from the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for a couple of picks. Schneider's huge salary - $5.625 million this year, he becomes a UFA this summer – will be absorbed by Robert Lang's season-ending injury which allowed the Canadiens to put the center in the injured reserve list. His salary will thus not count against the cap, leaving space for Schneider's. With nine defensemen on the roster after the new addition, Ryan O'Byrne was sent back to Hamilton since he's the only blueliner eligible for a return to the minors. As for Schneider's potential contribution to the team, here's what McKeen's Hockey Yearbook says about him:
Stabilized the Ducks upon returning from a fractured ankle and was a model of consistency going 32 games (Dec-to-Mar) without recording a negative plus-minus, the longest streak in the NHL ... a quick, mobile rearguard with a howitzer slapshot ... plays much tougher than his size and has steadily matured into one of the league's more reliable puckmovers and decisive powerplay quarterbacks ... unntamed and erratic early in his career, yet now plays very much in control ... poised under pressure and a savvy defender, patient in his positional play and wisely picking safe times to join the attack ...
In other words, he will mainly help on the PP which success rate is still in the basement of the league. Schneider will also bring some veteran presence on the blueline. Josh Gorges and Mike Komisarek's workload should diminish a bit with Schneider's presence. The only thing I'm worried about is that with Brisebois, Hamrlik, and now Schneider on defense; Lang and Kovalev in attack, the Canadiens are looking more and more like a retirement home for washed up players (though Lang is still pretty good).Gainey's second move was to send the younger Kostitsyn brother to the Bulldogs along with O'Byrne. Since his reputation as a player who's partying hard and not doing enough on the ice has recently started to cement itself among Montreal fans, the timing for this move is simply perfect. In Hamilton, he will go back to riding the bus, no late-night clubs over there (as far as I know) to distract him away from the game. I hope that the demotion will light a fire under his ass like it did for Maxime Lapierre last season.
Finally, the big move that has become front-page news on every hockey-related website is Gainey's decision to keep Kovalev in Montreal instead of traveling with the team tomorrow (today now). The Russian is currently having a terrible season in Montreal punctuated by his apparent lack of effort during games. Gainey said that the rest should give him the opportunity to clear his head, but you have to wonder if it's not a test to see how the team will play without him. When Koivu is out of the line-up and Kovalev in, the team usually wins or at least plays better. Now we'll know what kind of team Montreal has without the enigmatic winger. But then again, two games is not enough to judge how the team will fare. The team will probably play better because players will be afraid to get benched now that everyone knows that no one is really untouchable, but they might drop off their production next week. So, the real test here will be to see how Kovalev reacts when he rejoins his teammates; that is if he isn't traded before then.
Meanwhile, there are two games reviews that I haven't posted yet (last Friday and Sunday). I thought this post deserved priority, so I'll put up the reviews as soon as I can.
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