These are busy days for Habs Gauthier

There’s still 78 days until the puck is dropped on the 2010-11 NHL season, and the Montreal Canadiens have continued to fine tune their roster and staff in preparation.

I’m still catching up from vacation time, but over the past few days, there has been a whirlwind of activity surrounding the Bleu Blanc et Rouge.

Just before last weekend, the Canadiens resigned forward David Desharnais and also signed Alexander Avstin to an entry-level deal.

Desharnais brings consistent scoring to the Hamilton Bulldogs and the signing of Avstin is KHL fallout from the folding of legendary Russian club team Dynamo Moscow. In essence, the Bulldogs gained strength in the forward position real fast.

The next day, Habs VP of hockey operations Julien Brisebois jumped to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Canadiens GM Pierre Gauthier quickly wasted no time, and replaced him with Larry Carrière.

Carrière might turn out to be a very nice steal, as he has spent the last six years as a scout for the Washington Capitals and has close to 20 years of management experience.

Plus, you gotta love a guy who wasn’t afraid to take on the Broad Steet Bullies, or battle Terry O’Reilly, as seen in these videos.

 

As HockeyBuzz.com’s Steven Hindle pointed out in his recent article, “A key element to Carrière being brought in is that he brings an immense wealth of scouting and management knowledge, something that neither Guy Boucher or Julien Brisebois ever possessed.”

Hindle goes on to add, “As this is a situation whereby the Habs have benefitted, they shouldn't be so disappointed about the departure of Julien Brisebois.”

In the meantime, Brisebois will be joining former Bulldogs assistant coaches Daniel Lacroix and Martin Raymond, who were announced as assistants, alongside head coach Guy Boucher, in Tampa on Tuesday. The hiring of Raymond and Lacroix comes as no surprise, as Boucher’s coaching decision back in June centered on him bringing his own staff to wherever he signed on with.

To fill the coaching void in Hamilton, the Canadiens announced the hiring of Randy Cunneyworth as Bulldogs head coach, and Randy Ladoceur as an assistant on Tuesday. We can now officially quell any rumours of Kirk Muller leaving Montreal, for now.

Cunneyworth brings a great background of AHL coaching experience, having served the Rochester Americans for seven seasons (a franchise record) and is second on the Rochester win list. The last two years, he served as an assistant of the Atlanta Thrashers under John Anderson.

For those keeping track, here’s the connection; Cunneyworth played two seasons under Canadiens coach Jacques Martin and Habs assistant coach Perry Pearn with the Ottawa Senators.

The Canadiens have also brought on Pierre Allard as the team’s strength and conditioning coach, replacing the fired Lorne Goldenberg.

Obviously it’s still too early to tell without a crystal ball, but so far the managerial moves by Gauthier seem to be in the right direction for the team.

At the player level, Cedrick Desjardins is signed on to a two-way deal for the 2010-11 season. No financials were given by the team, but Capgeek.com puts the deal at $550,000 if he plays in Montreal and $65,000 in Hamilton.

This gives Montreal solid depth, at a great deal, between the pipes in the event that Carey Price and/or Alex Auld should falter or run into injury problems. Don’t be surprised to see Desjardins put up a battle to stay with the big club during training camp.

Speaking of Carey Price, the Tri-City Herald caught up with him at Olaf Kolzig’s golf tournament. Price acknowledged that negotiations are still ongoing for a new contract, and that he is looking forward to meeting with his new counterpart in the pads.

Price also garnered support from teammate Michael Cammalleri on TSN’s “Off the Record.”

Gauthier continued to keep busy on Tuesday, also signing Ryan Russell to a one-year, two-way deal.

Russell came to the Canadiens in a trade with the New York Rangers for Montreal’s 7th pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. The Rangers pick, David Skokan, has yet to play in the NHL outside of three pre-season games, and is currently playing in Slovakia.

Russell comes off a pair of seasons in Hamilton, scoring 20 and 19 goals in each respectively.

His analysis from Hockey’s Future cites, “Russell, much like his brother in Medicine Hat, provides an excellent offensive game on the ice. With strong vision and passing, Russell is also an excellent skater and isn’t afraid to shoot the puck, which he does with great accuracy.”

His downfall is his size where is is listed as 5’10” and 180lbs and will likely stay in Hamilton as the Canadiens have lots of skilled, small forwards.

Mike Keane’s career over?: On another front, it was sad to hear that the AHL’s Manitoba Moose will not bring their captain, Mike Keane, back for another season.

I did a piece on Keane last August, and there are few players as passionate for the game as he is.

Although the Winnipeg Free Press, mentions no official statement has come from the Moose or Keane, it is expected shortly. It wouldn’t be surprising to remain with the Moose in a management  or coaching position.

Keane played for eight seasons with the Canadiens and was on their last Stanley Cup winning team in 1993. He was named Habs captain in 1995, after Kirk Muller was traded to the New York Islanders. His tenure as captain was brief. After criticism form the press for his refusal to learn French (sound recently familiar??), he would be eventually be part of the Patrick Roy trade.

Two more Stanley Cups (Colorado in ‘96, Dallas in ‘99) and close to 2300 pro games later it seems that Keane’s playing career has wound down. Not a bad hockey resume for a guy who was not even drafted, though.

On the topic of Habs captains, Karmal Panesar offers his Top Ten list.

The question of who will be the next captain of the Canadiens was also brought to light in the past few days, around the same time defenseman Andrei Markov became a Canadian citizen.

Speculation is that coach Martin will name a new captain before the start of the season. Keep in mind though that a story broke before training camp even began last year, in which Markov was going to be named captain then.

Just a theory, but maybe the Canadiens organization just didn’t want a Russian wearing the “C”, and wanted to wait for his citizenship to be completed.

The Auldacity of it all..

 

Well that was certainly a surprise. Sneaking a peek on my Blackberry to catch up on the “free agent frenzy” during a family outing at the park, I screamed, “What the …?”

I was certainly surprised to see that the Montreal Canadiens had not signed goaltender Dan Ellis to a new contract. Instead, Pierre Gauthier opted to go with a goalie who has been passed around more often than a groupie at a ‘70s KISS concert named Alex Auld.

Right up to the noon hour it seemed like Ellis was a shoe in to be the backup/mentor/1B goalie to Carey Price. I was pretty convinced it was a done deal as well. Even at the eleventh hour, Eillis was on the Team990, giving Habs fans some great hope.

What went wrong, and why Alex Auld?

For Ellis, he was clearly a goalie that wanted to play regularly. In the back of his mind he wanted to be the number one guy between the pipes. He had lost the job in Nashville to Pekka Renne so you know that if the offer to be the number one was tabled by another team, he'd probably take it.

Well that offer came, in the form of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Ellis took it at $1.5 million over two seasons. Clearly it wasn’t a matter of money to Elllis, rather playing time and a two-year deal. Gauthier likely didn’t want to commit to two years, with Price expected to be the “franchise” down the road and still in need of a contract.

So that left the Habs GM with some decent alternate options in the free agent market. But Instead of going out and kicking tires at the likes of Marty Biron, Johan Hedberg, etc., Gauthier went on what seems like an impulse buy and grabbed Auld for a one-year, $1 million deal.

Arpon Basu raised his concerns on Auld in his Friday piece for The Daily Hab-it, noting his questionable statistics.

“Of Auld's 19 starts with a pretty bad Dallas Stars team last season, he gave up three or more goals 13 times. He had what was probably the best season of his career a year prior with Ottawa, when he went 16-18-7 with a 2.47 GAA and .911 save percentage. But just when it looked like Auld was going to be the man in Ottawa, he fell apart.

After starting the season 9-6-3, Auld went 7-12-4 from Dec. 8 to the end of the season. Of course, we all know (or at least we should) that a won-loss record is not a good reflection of a goaltender because it's more of a team stat. So, in compiling that 9-6-3 record, Auld had a stellar 1.98 GAA with a .925 save percentage, but from Dec. 8 on he went to a 2.86 GAA and a .902 save percentage.

The season before that Auld played extremely well for the Bruins, going 9-7-5 with a 2.32 GAA and .919 save percentage. 

But aside from the numbers, this is Auld's eighth team since 2006. That's about two teams a year. Does that fill you with confidence?”

Expanding on Auld’s numbers, I looked into his back-to-back games. Last season he only started on back-to-back nights once, losing both (one in a shootout) and giving up nine goals with a .855 SvPct.

The previous season he went 3-2-1 with a 2.33 GAA and .920 SvPct when called on to go two straight nights, and had a more impressive 2007-08 where he was 2-1-1, 1.48 GAA and a .946 SvPct.

If Carey Price does get the call to be the number one as he is expected to and banks the bulk of the ice time, Auld will be needed from time to time to give him a couple nights off.

He already seems to know what his role with the Canadiens will be, based on Friday’s interview with RDS.

"We didn't talk about a specific number of games, but more about the role I would have with the team," he said. "They want me to help Carey Price get better and that is exactly what I want to do."

That said, If he produces numbers similar to what he has done before in back-to-back nights, and Price does indeed begin to fulfill his expectations under his “mentoring”, Gauthier’s decision would be genius.

Yvon Pedenault pondered this in his column for Le Journal de Quebec, “There is one question we must ask: Will Auld be a safety shield if Price would have a problem? Not really.”

Here’s a concern though; When Jaroslav Halak was traded, Pierre Gauthier noted how Price already had playoff experience for a young goaltender.

But what about Auld, if Price tanks or is injured? He has just four games of playoff experience himself, with his lone win coming being a triple overtime game (thanks goalienut), when he was with Vancouver. His post season SvPct is a less than appealing .892.

Maybe Gauthier sees Auld as the next Michael Leighton, I don’t know. Personally, I’d have saved my money and just taken my chances on either Curtis Sandford or Cedrick Desjardins.

“Koivu’s return” dreams put to rest: The thought of many fans last summer was that maybe, just maybe former Canadiens captain Saku Koivu would return after a season in Anaheim. Well that’s not going to happen as the veteran re-signed for two more years. The Canadiens put the nail in any further hopes by announcing that Scott Gomez will wear his childhood No.11, Koivu’s number in Montreal, this season.

Maybe with Dustin Boyd signed, he’ll take No. 27 and kill off any return hopes of “L’Artiste.”

Pierre Gauthier: Committed to his team, or needs to be committed?

Well if anything has been made clear for the Montreal Canadiens, it’s that GM Pierre Gauthier doesn’t use the same manual Bob Gainey did.

While the former GM was often labeled as “sitting on his hands” or standing pat in the off-season (last summer excluded), Gauthier has far exceeded that moniker.

We have yet to reach the NHL Entry Draft and already he has put two major roster issues to rest.

First he answered the goaltending concerns, and surprised everyone, by trading Jaroslav Halak to the St. Louis Blues.

Many felt Gauthier got too little and could be risking the franchises future. That debate won’t be officially decided until we see how Carey Price responds. As mentioned in a previous post, this move alone could gauge Gauthier’s legacy in Montreal.

The upswing to the trade meant sufficient cap room to negotiate with pending UFA center Tomas Plekanec. Gauthier wasted no time on that either.

In what turned into an extremely busy Tuesday of off ice activity across the NHL, that also saw Montreal sign a one-year deal with Mathieu Darche, news of a deal with Plekanec broke just minutes before the 2010 Hockey Hall of Fame Inductees were to be announced at 3:30pm.

The deal is a six-year, $30 million signing that guarantees Plekanec’s services long term in Montreal.

The 27-year-old is coming off a career season (25 goals, 45 assists) and has become a good two-way forward, since being drafted 71st overall in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, but is that worth $5 million a season?

It will be argued throughout the term as possibly too steep a deal for a six year signing. Montreal now has six players signed at $5 million or more for 2010-11 totaling over $33.5 million (over half the team’s projected cap of $59 million).

Plekanec’s offensive numbers tapered off during the playoffs, which may have influenced his choice to continue negotiations with Montreal. Slightly better numbers may have secured him another million per year, and a better opportunity in the UFA market.

Then again maybe he learned from his former teammate Alex Kovalev’s failed negotiations with the Canadiens last summer, and jumped at the offer.

With the deal also comes with the often dreaded no movement clause. It is uncertain how far in this will take effect, but it could be a concern down the road for Canadiens fans if Plekanec’s performance declines.

In any event, Gauthier is showing that he is committing himself to getting his roster put together for the upcoming season, but at what cost?

Gauthier now sits with approximately $9 million left in salary to play with and a few more roster spots to secure. After being given the foundation and building blocks by Gainey, it’s now up to him to build the future from there.

Signing Carey Price will obviously be the next piece of the puzzle, but we could also see a trade to free up some more spending money, between now and training camp, to fill the final gaps.

Things might get even tougher after next season with five defencemen entering the last year of their contracts.

It will be interesting to look back on Gauthier’s activities of the past week, once the long term effects wear off. Down the road fans could be praising the deal as giving the Canadiens a long-term No. 1 center, or an overpaid and unmovable third liner. The performance/results factor will obviously fall on Plekanec’s shoulders, but ultimately the finger pointing will go further up.

Great strategist and negotiator, or nutty professor? Only time will tell with the Gauthier era.

Habs trade Halak to Blues: Gauthier gives Walsh the FU

If there’s any hockey insider that says they called today’s events long before they happened, they are lying through their teeth.

Nobody expected to see the Montreal Canadiens trade away goaltender Jaroslav Halak on Thursday afternoon. Correction, there was always strong speculation that Halak would be moved in the off-season, but nobody saw the St. Louis Blues as a destination. Nor did anyone see it coming over a week before the NHL Entry Draft in Los Angeles.

Well they did, and the Blues will send prospects Lars Eller and Ian Schultz to Montreal.

Clearly the two sides of the bargaining table, the Canadiens and Halak and agent Allan Walsh, were nowhere close to financial numbers. In fact they weren’t even talking to each other. Walsh stated that there was no contact between him and the Canadiens, since the end of the playoffs.

With the threat of arbitration, Walsh’s Twitter and trade demand antics during the season, and a tight cap as it was, Canadiens GM Pierre Gauthier confirmed there had been no negotiations and pulled the trigger on a deal.

Essentially Gauthier and the Canadiens were not going to give Walsh the time of day.

“We sat down and we evaluated how we want to go forward,” said Gauthier in a conference call on Thursday. “When it comes to the cost of a player, we don’t need an agent to get an idea what a player will cost in a cap system.”

Gauthier said that he did call Halak on Thursday to let him know of the situation, “He was a solid citizen for our club, both on the off the ice. We appreciate what he did for us.”

Halak said he was surprised, but happy about the new start in St. Louis. The Blues still have to negotiate a contract with the 25-year-old goaltender.

Many question why the Canadiens made the trade when they did. Why not wait for the Draft, when typically a player’s value hits peak potential?

Gauthier replied, stating that the deal was an easier process than many would think. “The GM’s are well aware what is going on with other teams,” he said. “People that are interested in certain players will call each other. Some are just kicking tires, but there was enough time for anyone interested to call and we made the deal that was best for both clubs.”

The role of the number one goaltender now falls on 22-year-old Carey Price, also a restricted free agent come July 1. In all likelihood a deal to resign him should be imminent now that Halak is out of the way.

“When we discuss players, we discuss what we think they will do in the future,” Gauthier said on deciding Price over Halak. “We look at the following year and other years.

“We are very comfortable with Carey Price. He brings a lot to the table. He has over 150 games in the league, and some playoff experience, a Calder Cup, and he’s only 22. We think he will be a very good goalie in the league and can carry the load.”

The next concern will be who takes the role of the No. 2 goaltender in Montreal. Will it be through the system, or via free agency or trade?

“We have a good idea of who is available, come July 1,in free agency,” said Gauthier. “We’ll keep evaluating as people get moved.

“You need two good goaltenders, and we’ll make sure we have two next year.”

In the prospects coming to the Canadiens, Gauthier said that taking two young players fits into the success formula needed in the cap-era NHL.

“You need the young players that don’t cost too much to offset the cost of the veterans, such as the Chicago Blackhawks.

“You need players that will play well through their entry level contracts. It becomes very important.”

The 21-year-old Eller, deemed the Blues No. 2 prospect, could be a solid second line centre within a year or two, according to Gauthier.

Eller was the 13th pick overall in the 2007 NHL Entry draft and had 57 points in 70 games with the Blues’ AHL affiliate on Peoria.

“He’s a big centre man, with a good shot, he skates well, and he competes,” Gauthier said. “He’ll fit well with our quick forwards and be a very well-rounded player.”

Schultz, 20, spent last season with the Calgary Hitmen (WHL) and could bring size and toughness down the line.

The concern amongst fans now is did Gauthier do the right thing?

Halak’s numbers in 2009-10(via the Blues press release) speak for themselves.

“Halak, 25, was 26-13-5 in 2009-10 for Montreal and ranked 4th in the NHL in save percentage (.940), 9th in goals against average (2.40) and was tied for 5th with five shutouts.
In his 26 wins this season he had a GAA of 1.68 and a save % of .948. He was 4-2-0 vs. the Western Conference with a GAA of 2.19 and a .928 save %.”

There always has to be the notion too that it was a contract season for Halak. If Gauthier is right in the trade, he avoids dumping the teams financial future on a goalie that could pan out like Cristobel Huet did after he was traded.

It also leaves cap space to possibly resign centre Tomas Plekanec, an unrestricted free agent July 1, or go fishing elsewhere. There clearly would not be room for both Halak and Plekanec or other.

If it works and Price flourishes in Montreal, he’s GM of the year. If it doesn’t, it’s the biggest blunder since the Patrick Roy trade.

In any event, you have to admit that Pierre Gauthier has balls.

Carbo Speaks on Canadiens GM Change

It came as no surprise, to former Montreal Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau, that his long-time friend Bob Gainey would step down as the team's GM.

"The timing was surprising for everybody," Carbonneau said Tuesday morning on TheFan590. "But, it has been something in the back of his head for a couple years now."

"He didn't feel the pressure," he said, referring to the high expectations of the media and fans. "All the events that have happened in his personal life started to wear down on him."

Carbonneau sympathized with Gainey on the lack of personal and family time available while working at the administrative level of pro hockey.

"It's good that he's staying aboard (as an adviser to new GM Pierre Gauthier)," he said. "It gives him time to do other things. Until I got fired last March, I never had time to myself, or for my family."

He then spoke in his firing from the Canadiens by his long-time friend.

"When it happens, you're not happy," he said. "We took the job over the relationship we had. We expected we would stay together to weather the first storm. I was surprised that it happened, but he (Gainey) has the only reason that it did."

Carbonneau hopes that he and Gainey can talk in a few months to rebuild their tarnished friendship.

He also suspects that his former boss was already passing the torch to Gauthier at the time of his firing.

Carbonneau broke down the team's staff, pointing out all the past working ties between Gauthier, coach Jacques Martin, director of player development Trevor Timmins and coaches Perry Pearn and Pierre Groulx.

"It made sense," he said. "At the end of the day, it's the GM who says 'yes' or 'no', but most of the decisions were made in the same room."

When asked on his evaluation of Gainey's successor, Carbonneau said it's hard to say at this time.

Gainey Out as Canadiens GM. Gauthier Era begins

Well I was hoping for a quiet late afternoon to catch up on some reading, but the Montreal Canadiens called a press conference, for 4pm Monday afternoon, to announce changes in management.

Team president Pierre Boivin announced the resignation of GM and Excutive Vice-President Bob Gainey, who will remain on as an advisor to his successor Pierre Gauthier.

CBC's Elliotte Friedman had tweeted, late Monday morning, that the decision was made on Sunday, but the truth was, Gainey had made his choice over the Christmas break. He felt he could not go another four-to-six year term.

With the Canadiens Centennial behind him, and new ownership taking control, and his contract expiring in June, Gainey felt the time was right. "Given the choice between staying too long and leaving early, I prefer to leave a little bit too early,"he said. "I did my best."

"I leave the team I love the most, to the man I trust the most," Gainey said on passing the torch. "In my heart, I am always a Canadien. It's been a privilege to participate with the organization again, in a different roll. I'm very thankful."

The move was a surprising one, give the proximity to the NHL Trade Deadline, but Gainey felt that with the Olympic break approaching, that Gauthier would have time to adjust.

Chances are Gauthier had an idea it was coming long before Gainey's "December decision". The two have been working together for six years. The peculiar dismissal of Guy Carbonneau, meshed with the even odder temporary promotion, and subsequent dismissal of Bulldogs coach Don Lever, and hiring of coach Jacques Martin leads some to believe that Gauthier was already making key coaching personnel decisions for Gainey.

Gauthier was Gainey's assistant GM and has prior experience with Ottawa (1995-98) and Anaheim (1998-2002).

He left the Senators for Anaheim, after turning them into a playoff contending team, to be closer to his wife and family in California.

He was fired in 2002 by the Ducks, after the team failed to make the playoffs for three straight seasons. Gauthier also traded away key assets, such as Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne, despite going on record that he would not trade them.

Gauthier said he is happy with his team and, much like Martin has stated most of the season, emphasized the team is still working on the slow process of finding an identity.

"Our team is a new team," he said. "We've added 11 players from nine different organizations in the past 12 months. We only have four players, I think, with two or more years experience with this team."

Gauthier and Boivin also discussed the francophone factor in the Canadiens organization.

"You bet it's important," Boivin responded when asked if any candidates for the GM position needed to be bi-lingual. "French is the language spoken by 2/3, 3/4 of our fans and clients. It's a matter of respect and sensitivity to the reality of Quebec."

"Our first and only objective is to win the Stanley Cup and be the best team we can be every year," said Gauthier in a later interview on PrimeTime Sports. "and it is part of our mission to have a francophone presence."

Gauthier also said the team is working to keep centre Tomas Plekanec in Montreal after this season, and spoke on the futures of goaltenders Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak.

"We have two very good young goaltenders that give us a chance to win every night," he said. " We believe we can go forward with them, and they give us our best chance to get into the playoffs. Down the line, they'll both No. 1 goalies, and we'll need to address that in time."

That said, don't be surprised to see both goaltenders with the Canadiens by the end of March 3.

photos: Graham Hughes (AP/Canadian Press)