Hockey Returns: 2005

[Rusicade]

to Mark Messier.



On to hockey news, though!


The Senators Corel Centre will be known as the ScotiaBank Centre starting...tomorrow.
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Sheldon Souray of the Habs suffered a knee injury. Crud.
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Janne Niinamaa was traded to the Dallas Stars from the NY Islanders in exchange for defenceman John Erskine.

Somewhat like the Rangers, the Stars now boast 6 Finns on their roster (Jere Lehtinen, Jussi Jokinen, Annti Miettinen, Niklas Hagman, Niko Kapanen, and Niinamaa)

Niinamaa is a solid defenseman, but he is known to be stubborn and hard to coach (Which is why he was kicked off Team Finland in the World Championships, and why he was left off the Finns roster for the upcoming Olympics), which might've helped Niinamaa get out of NY.

Speaking of Islanders coaching...
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Steve Stirling became the 8th coach in 10 years to be fired for the Isles. You probably know that the Isles are a team that is dropping fast, and something (Or three things including Milbury and Niinamaa) had to change. Assistant coach Brad Shaw will take the reigns for now.

Isles GM Mike Milbury also resigned but will remain with the team as President. Milbury will remain as GM, until a replacement is found. Milbury is noted (At least by me) for his awful trades. Roberto Luongo to Florida, for example.

The Isles might be (And for good reason) looking at Brent Sutter, the coach who has led Canada to 2 straight gold medals in World Junior Championships.

It would be a tough sell, however, since Sutter said he loves coaching the Red Deer Rebels, a WHL team.

[EvaLaruefan]

The Montreal Canadiens fired Claude Julien and Rick Green this mornig and Bob Gainey will be taking over as head coach and has hired Guy Carbonneau as his assistant.

I hope this will shake the team up. Go Habs Go!

Theo better stay in Montreal!

Here's a cool hockey board for news and info on all the teams if you guys want:
http://nhlhottopics.com//index.php?act=idx

[imajunkie2]

It would be a tough sell, however, since Sutter said he loves coaching the Red Deer Rebels, a WHL team.

Even tougher of a sell IMO since he is also the Owner / GM of the Reb's.

[wwhippetcrazy]

Holy!!
I heard on TSN this morning that they moved Riberio to the 4th line too and that trade rumors are all over about him. They had not mentioned the coach being fired....hopefully this does wake up the Habs they have not been playing very well at all!
Thanks for the link Eva!

[pineapple]

So the Islanders and Habs both fire their coaches...why can't the Bruins fire theirs and get rid of the GM while they're at it?!

Congrats to Jurcina for scoring again today! That's 5 goals in the past 4 games, I think.

[canadian_angel]

Even tougher of a sell IMO since he is also the Owner / GM of the Reb's.

I just can't see him doing it. Not yet anyways. Maybe in a few more years, but right now, he's basically the "best" CHL coach there is.

[Rusicade]

The shake-up in Montreal has worked...so far.

I just finsihed watching it...the Habs beat the Sharks 6-2 because of a 6-goal outburst in the 2nd. Gainey decided to start Theodore instead of Huet like Julien was going to do, and it payed off. Theodore was the 3rd star.

A surprise to me, although I'll be hoping and watching to see if the Habs can play like this from now on.

[EvaLaruefan]

That was a great game by the Habs, I really hope they can keep it up. So happy Theo played well. It was so much fun to watch

[wwhippetcrazy]

I'll chime in with a WOO HOO on a Habs win!

I watched the game also. I watched it in French (which Im just starting to learn)...did Zednik get hurt?? I think it was him on the bench clutching his wrist, but I could see his number too well, and I couldn't understand the commentaters to see if it was him or not or a shot from a different game.

I was glad to see Jose in net also...I did see a little snippet with Gainey after the game, (I'm paraphrasing here) he commented that it was great to be part of that game, and that it was nice to be on that end of the game, seeing the players intensity for the game.

I hope that they can keep it up! A 6 game road trip after the Stars game...and it doesn't look like it will be an easy one.

[Miss Filangi]

Count me in as another that hopes this shakeup pays off for the Habs. They really are a great team and I'd hate to see them not live up to their enourmous potential.