Yannick Weber: Swiss Cheese Without The Holes

One of the most surprising revelations of the 2008 Montreal Canadiens training camp has been the play of Swiss born Yannick Weber.

Who, you might ask?

Weber might best be known as the Kitchener Rangers star pointman over the past couple of seasons. He might also be known to those in the hockey coulisses as the captain of the Switzerland entry in the last World Junior Championship tournament.

Current Florida Panthers coach Peter DeBoer, and former Rangers bench boss calls Weber the best OHL defenseman of the past season. For the record, that statement by DeBoer was made prior to Weber scoring the tying goal against DeBoer's Panthers last evening.

Had Weber not been recovering from injuries at the time, he might have led the heavily favored Kitchener squad to a Memorial Cup championship. Heck, with a little break, he might have been the lucky candidate fortunate enough to snap the Memorial Cup in two.

All told, Weber had a great say in why the Kitchener boys were heavily favored in the first place.

The Montreal Canadiens have both a recent and long standing affiliation with Swiss born players. Howie Morenz and Aurel Joliat, a duo who saw to it that the Canadiens would snag Stanley Cups in 1924, 1930, and 1931, were one generation removed from Swiss born parents.

And all along you guessed they were "Flying Frenchmen"!

More recent Swiss affiliations to Habs lore have included goalie David "I've got the pin, where's the grenade?" Aebischer and defenseman Mark Streit. While you surely don't want to recall Aebischer fondly from two seasons ago, the man who was a keg of gunpowder to the Habs goaltending woes then, now stops pucks somewhere in the hockey ozone.

Mark Streit on the other hand, was pure gold for the Habs. In three seasons with the club, Streit's role expanded from seldom used defender, to utility wingman, and finally to PP QB last season. His stats were testosterone induced by contributions from the likes of Alex Kovalev and Andrei Markov.

Streit, after his career year of close to 70 points, then became as cursed as he was blessed. In free agency, he became a New York Islander, a reward akin to kissing Megan Fox and waking up next to Bea Arthur.

























Weber in all this, if often compared to Streit, but the deal doesn't hold water. Weber is and will be a much sounder player.

Purely, the comaprison is nothing but a Swiss thing. Weber's shot is more accurate, he plays sounder defense, his size doesn't seem to be a liability, and he doesn't have that chickenshit scared french painter look about him that Streit had.

Four exhibition games into an NHL lifetime of course, does not make a career, but by all reports, Weber has positioned himself within these contests as the next Canadiens defenseman to make the bigs. He'd be positioned at number seven on the Canadiens depth chart were it not for human gasket Patrice Brisebois serving once again as placeholder and stunter of development for the likes of Weber and P.K. Subban.

What bodes well for the Canadiens, is that the case of an extreme emergency - a long term injury to a defender - Weber is ready to move up and assume the role.

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Habs Should Package Kids For Impact Player

The Canadiens 2008-09 training camp is at it's midway point, and other than a dismal first game showing against Boston, the team's performance has been excellent. Without once yet having iced a squad remotely reminiscent of last season's lineup, the Habs have fared well enough that one could envision them starting the season with either of the rookie laden groups they have dressed in the past three games.

I mean really, what are they to do with all of these kids coming through the woodwork?

It's a beauty of a problem to have if you happen to be Bob Gainey.

So far in exhibition games, it is clear that if this were any other season in which the Canadiens weren't so set and stacked, a good four or five rookies and prospects would be termed as NHL ready.

Matt D' Agnostini looks as though he could be a 15 to 20 goal scorer on about 15 NHL clubs starting this season.

Max Pacioretty is both physically and mentally at a big league level despite only being 19 years of age.

The performances of defensemen P.K. Subban and Yannick Weber tell of great futures so far.

The potential of center Ben Maxwell has shown itself greatly, especially when his talents are combined with those of solid NHL'ers.

And they have only been the best of the best thus far.






















There are also players with last names like Desharnais, Beauregard, Carle, Desjardins, Trotter and Stewart who have made strong impressions in a short time.

All could one day be in the NHL.

The 11 players named here, are primarily just the sharper tip of the iceberg for the Canadiens, and the reality is that they cannot all fit into the club's future plans.

The problem for a smiling Gainey is that the inner competition amongst these one day Habs is that it will bring out the best in them. Open spots on the club currently are more rare than Beatles reunion rumours.

The downside is that many of these players will walk from the team in time, returning little in terms of value. They will be flipped for draft picks down the line at best.

An interesting solution might have presented itself in the sheer numbers of these cumulative talents, as individually their worth would tend to be less than their combined value as a whole.

The Canadiens should make some decisions, perhaps premature, and roll the dice, in order to acquire a player that could not only take them to a higher level, but keep them there for a good long haul.

I bring this up because I see a pair of clubs - Pittsburgh and Detroit - screening the Canadiens Stanley Cup visions.

To ask why, is to understand that the Habs have no players in the Ovechkin, Crosby, Malkin, Zetterberg, and Datsyuk class within their ranks.

Adding a player of that high calibre, would go a long way towards ensuring that the club maintains annual Stanley Cup aspirations.

Mind you, I think this current team is capable right this season, with its current configuration, to go all the way.

But I'm a Habs fan, and I can only think in terms of dynasties. One Cup, only brings a thirst for more, hence my long term view that gaining a markee player suits that need best.

As I see it, in the short or long term, the Canadiens will need a player of absolute character, force, and value. A player that might well define the team identity, beyond the current Koivu and Kovalev regime.

















I envision the idea of such a player as being capable of producing between 85 and 100 points annually for the next decade, or close to it. Someone to measure up against the likes of Ovechkin, Crosby, Malkin, Zetterberg, and Datsyuk.

The Canadiens can only gain such a player via three methods.

1 - Drafting a prospect in the top three spots over the next two seasons.

2 - Making a trade for such a high pick.

3 - Acquiring via the trade route, an already established player who could fill this need.

For option number 1 to happen, the Canadiens would need to be the Islanders, Maple Leafs, Thrashers or Kings. File that scenario under "Not Gonna Happen".

Option two is more likely, in that the Habs could package a group of a half dozen bodies of promise, and gain a lottery pick in the draft that could turn out to be more than the sum of it's parts.

The most immediate route is obviously the most salacious. Acquire a bona fide NHL star - rising or established.

Names - you want: Kovalchuk, Gaborik, Morrow, Kopitar, or Getzlaf. (There are others, but I digress!)

Placed in the Canadiens shoes, I would not part with Pacioretty, McDonough, Yemelin or Maxwell. Other prospects are negotiable.

The bait offered- an alluring bevy of Habs prospects with a pinch of current regulars tossed in.

























Here's the card I would play if I were Gainey:

2006 first round pick, defenseman David Fischer.

Jaroslav Halak.

The rights to Alexandre Perezhogin.

A choice between center Ryan White and winger Matt D' Agnostini.

A choice between Subban and Weber.

A choice between centers Lapierre and Chipchura.

A choice between Mathieu Dandeneault and Tom Kostopoulos.

The possible flip flop of draft choices in 2009 or 2010.

Depending on the trading partner, I'd want Gainey to consider adding an alternative, in the name of a roster player or second round pick.


You might ask why I would be willing to see the club part with so many assets to gain but one player.

My answer involves calculated risk, but I always see it in the sense that the club gaining the best player in a deal is usually the winner.

Of the options available above, if I were to be another clubs GM, I'd grab the following.

White as he is a centerman, over D' Agnostini, because he is a better skater and shows more two way responsability.

Subban over Weber, for reasons incurring grit, charisma, and nationality.

Lapierre over Chipachura in regards to experience, skating skills, and attitude.

Kostopoulos, for his age over Dandy, and his willingness to go to no end for team mates.

I'd also say "NO" to the flip of choices, or at best retain the option.

In the final tally, a deal for the likes of Kovalchuk, Gaborik, Morrow, Kopitar, or Getzlaf would boil down to Fischer, Halak, Perezhogin, White, Subban, Lapierre, and Kostopoulos.

All told, seven bodies for a franchise player.

Which trigger would you pull?

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New Habs Draft Pick Database

An updated feature at Montreal Canadiens.com, and all other NHL team websites, now enables fans to look back at every single draft choice a team has made since 1963.

The profiles of literally hundreds of players can now be linked to via the hyperlinks on the page.

Readers can look at the list in reverse chronological order starting with the 2007 draft, or look up players by how high they were drafted overall, team by team, by country, amateur team, and position. Drafted players who have suited up for the Canadiens are noted by hyperlinks and you can view each players Montreal stats when clicking on their names.

Unfortunately there are no profiles on the players who did not make the Canadiens over the years, but each prospect curently on the Habs roster has an up to date hyperlink that allows viewing of their whereabout and profile.

For Canadiens players drafted between 1963 and the present, the most complete information sites are still Hockey Draft Central, which is updated only up to 1985, and the always reliable Hockey Database, where upon entering a name in the player search bar, the complete season by season profiles of players are listed.

A current A to Z listing of all prospects in the Montreal Canadiens system can be found by highlighting the "TEAM" link on the site's opening page and clicking on the "Prospects" hyperlink.
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Expect Turnover In Big Numbers For Habs

Listening to, reading about, and watching the Canadiens training camp progress, I was struck with an odd notion upon realizing the potential that this stockpile of youth has to offer the Habs in terms of future options.

Like, what to heck are we going to do with all these players?

How on Earth does Bob Gainey plan to juggle all this talent without letting any of it slip away?

What would be the masterplan that is most beneficial to team prosperity?

I've no doubt that the Canadiens are laying the groundwork foundation for a Stanley Cup win within a reasonable number of years. In fact I'm almost at the point of thinking such is inevitable.

What is also inevitable is that large chunks of veteran players will be pawned and sacrificed in order to make room for all the rising stars the team has on the way.



I count at least 10 future bona fide NHL'ers that will make their way to Hamilton, or other destinations, for now, that should all be part of the team within 2 to 3 years. Four years max.

Names, you ask? Here goes!

Carey Price, Kyle Chipchura, Sergei Kostitsyn, Ryan O'Byrne, Matt D'Agnostini, Ryan White, Mathieu Carle, Pavel Valentenko, Mikhail Grabovski, and Ben Maxwell.

Presently AWOL but hardly forgotten, is Russian defenseman Alexei Emelin.

I did not mention Max Lapierre or Andrei Kostitsyn, as I consider them to be full time Habs until proven otherwise. I also did not check Janna Lahti in with the youth as he is an older FA signing who is an odds on bet to latch onto his NHL chance this season.




Add to those ten names, the likes of David Fischer, Ryan McDonagh, Max Pacioretty, and P.K. Subban within another year, and you can see that Gainey will need to be quite the manager of talent to see them all through to fruition.

All totalled, we are speaking of 15 fresh talents that will push out players who are currently veterans on the Canadiens, by the time the 2010-11 season gets underway.

The group consists of one goalie, seven defensemen, and seven forwards that could represent more than half of the team's lineup come that fateful season.

That is an incredible amount of influx and turnover on what would still be considered a young Canadiens teams come that season.

Current roster players that should survive this movement are the current young core of Higgins, Plekanec, Latendresse, Komisarek, Lapierre, Andrei Kostitsyn, and perhaps goalie Jaroslav Halak.



They would make up a core of experiencd vets by then.

Other current veteran players from the Habs roster that may last until the 2010-11 season are Andrei Markov and Roman Hamrlik, as impending free agents by that point, Saku Koivu should he resign beyond his current contract, and possibly Michael Ryder and Mark Streit as longshot wildcards to still be around.

Of course, during the interim, names we've yet to crystal ball into the Habs future will also make their way onto the team, one signing or trade at a time.

Now if you add it all up for the 2010-11 season, there are the 15 fresh faces that I've named first, the 7 current young guns that should stick around until then, and a possibility of 5 veterans that could hang onto their Habs jerseys for another four years should their individual stocks dictate they are worth keeping.

That is a total of 27 players the Canadiens will have an interest in hanging onto for another 4 years, and I wouldn't bet the house on Ryder, Hamrlik, Streit, and saddest of all, Koivu.

In order to clear space for these talents, players will be shed from the team on by one over the coming seasons. It's not difficult to imagine to order of their departure, starting with players who are merely passing the current season, soon to be dealt to the highest bidder or Mike Johnsonsed into the hockey ozone.



So in order, start saying goodbye to:

Garth Murray
Patrice Brisebois
Mathieu Dandeneault
Steve Begin
Bryan Smolinski
Alex Kovalev
Josh Georges
Tom Kostopoulos
Francis Bouillon
Cristobal Huet

Not weeping?

Neither am I!

What these players fetch in terms of returns for Gainey will go a long way towards determining how quickly the Canadiens contend for Lord Stanley's mug. He will be tasked with turning over experienced players for much of the same, given the Habs young lineup.

The best news is that Gainey will have the talent and numbers to load a deal sufficiently, making it alluring enough to get exactly what he is going after.



While many fans are clammoring for Cup contention in the Canadiens 100th anniversary year, the goal Gainey may be aiming at is just beyond that season. It should be obvious by now that Gainey is not trying to win but one Cup. He is actually working to build a team that will not only win it, but contend for it for several seasons.

Gainey's greatest virtue as Habs GM up until now has been patience. His next tasks in management will be judgement and timing.

Going over the Canadiens lineup and prospect evaluations will be a kind of W5 proposition for Gainey.



What - The Stanley Cup as a goal.

When - At what point does the team shed current roster players.

Where - Judging the upcoming talent and deciding its readiness.

Who - Players that the team brings in, in the interim.

Why - Upside of potential of players, the decline of current player values, and what is available to help the team via free agency.

It is unfortunate that players we have grown to appreciate will sadly not be among us come Cup hoisting time. Speaking only for myself, it will break my heart if I don't see Saku Koivu win one in his Canadiens lifetime.

But I'll get over it!

Draft Day Fun With The Subbanator

You just gotta love P.K. Subban, the Belleville Bulls defenseman who was the second of six rearguards taken by the Habs in the draft this past weekend.

Subban has earned the moniker "The Subbanator" for his outspokeness and quotability. He left an impression on everyone it seems and was beside himself with joy at being selected by his favorite team.

No sooner did he have the Habs jersey pulled over his head when his exuberance shone out loud. He wasted little time in declaring that not only would he make the Canadiens come training camp, he had plans for his own personal day with Lord Stanley's mug all in order.



















When Subban declared, "I want to bring another Stanley Cup to Montreal and then bring the Cup back home, parade it through the streets of Toronto and let all the kids touch it", the room just fell apart.

The Etobikoke native wasn't a Leafs fan for long. "I started as a Toronto fan but my dad is the biggest Montreal fan in the world," said Subban. "You walk in our house and there's Habs flags everywhere.

"So I ended up growing up a huge Habs fans. This is truly amazing."

Canadiens scout Trevor Timmins is quite high on Subban, professing that he will be without doubt the fastest player in camp.

From the scouting reports I've read so far, Subban's skills are not in question. His offensive game and his speed are raved about, while his defensive liabilities are suspect. From the soundboards of Bulls fans, it is told he is often prone to foregoing the safer route in sacrifice of an up ice rush - a trait not uncommon in eager and skilled youngsters.

One thing is for certain, his enthusiasm is awful contagious, already drawing one comparison to Jeremy Roenick, for better or worse. Time will tell whether this talented youngster can reign in his instincts for the more subtle aspects of the game.

Upon researching info on Subban, I came upon an interesting site called P.A.S.S., which is a summer hockey camp. I'm not sure what the initials stand for, but the site featured P.K. in their Student Spotlight section as a player with ...get this...the North York Canadiens!

The picture below shows Subban as a Novice AAA player and I'm guessing he was all of 10 or 11 years old at the time. The short bio makes it sound as thought the P.K. we are just getting to know has been this incredible character for quite some time. He'll be a refreshing treat!









"P. K. is a highly skilled novice who has attended PASS for four years. A player with exceptional desire and drive, you can expect maximum effort from P.K. when he is on the ice. A third year novice playing his first season of AAA, P.K. enjoyed winning the MTHL Carnation Cup with the Canadians. A versatile player, P.K. plays forward and defense, and is an asset to the team in either position. P.K. is an excellent student who takes his studies seriously. He enjoys art, math and reading. P.K.’s goal is to play in the NHL and to be dentist when he is finished playing hockey. In the summer, P.K. enjoys outdoor sports, including basketball."

IN THE ODDITIES CATEGORY

One of the fun parts of the NHL Entry Draft for me is hearing the great stories from past drafts. Someone, I forget who or where exactly, made mention of this tale. I'd heard this one long ago and figured I'd look it up.

It occured in 1974 when the event was titled the NHL Amateur Draft. Back then the draft was along and drawn out affair, sometimes lasting past 20 rounds. Seems as long as managers were still choosing players, the process would continue. On occasion, the day would end with one team picking several players in succession.

An example of this happened in 1978, when the Canadiens used picks 229 throught 234 to select the six final picks of the day. It seemed a fruitless exercise to many, however the Canadiens managed to unearth two future NHL'ers with those picks - Louis Sleigher and the one and only Chris Nilan!










In 1974, however, Buffalo Sabres general manager Punch Imlach became restless with the time consuming unfoldings, and protested it in a unique manner.

Using pick #183, Imalch selected Taro Tsujimoto of the Tokyo Katanas. Everyone thought that the Sabres had uncovered a new talent base from across the ocean.

The surprising pick delayed the draft some, and it was only after an attempted check a week later was it discovered that the player was in fact inexistant.

Imlach was found out and later revealed that Tsujimoto was a waiter in a Japanese restaurant that he and the teams owners had visited the night before. "Katana" was actually the Japanese word for a saber! It sounds like they had it all planned and had succeeded in getting their point across.










SILLY NAME FUN

Every year after the draft ends, when I'm all done pondering the hits and misses of day, I scan down the list of 7 rounds of players looking for the funniest and silliest sounding names. There's always a bunch of them, and while this year is maybe slim talent wise, it's a banner year for those kinds of names that will either become an editor's nightmare or journalists and publicists dream.

If but half of these players make the NHL grade, the puns and witticisms will be endless. Here are some of the better ones, to which I added the first thing that came to mind.

Matt Rust: No one's been at his door in a while!
Ryan Thang: Does his crash and bang thang!
Maxim Gratchev: Extreme case of Russian jock itch!
Ryan Molle: Too soft for the NHL.
Paul Posta: Goes postal!
Ben Winnett: He won't Winnett in Toronto
Ben Blood: First member of Blood, Sweatt, and Turris fantasy hockey line.
Bill Sweatt: The only sweat you'll find on new Reebok jerseys.
Kyle Turris: A Turris attraction for Phoenix
Zack Torquato: Coolest name in the draft after Max Pacioretty and Ben Blood
Linus Omark: Siblings are named Snoopy and Rerun.
Patrick Maroon: Could be on an NHL version of Survivor or Lost
Tyson Sexsmith: Blacksmith, locksmith, sexsmith; which trade would you like to master?
Luca Caputi: Caputi goes kaput!
Nick Eno: Throws up before every game!
Ryan Gendur: Gendur bendur!
Trevor Nill: Not much chance!
Trevor Cann: A little better chance!
Jake Muzzin: Things are buzzin' with Muzzin
Oscar Mollar: Hope he's got all his teeth!

Just call me Mike!






Luca Cunti: Headline nightmare in the fine tradition of Corey Pecker and Yataka Fukufuji.
Cade Fairchild: Wasn't Kate Fairchild an actress?
Cody Almond: Coaty? Sounds like a delicious snack.