I guess I was a little surprised by a couple of players who received qualifying offers from the Canadiens. You may not agree with me, but that’s great. I didn’t agree with George Costanza when he ate a chocolate bar with a knife and fork.
I was slightly surprised that Blake Geoffrion was given an offer. Blake wasn’t great by a long shot. He worked hard enough I guess, and is a nice skater, but the offence just wasn’t there, managing two goals and no assists in 13 games. Blake’s grandpa was one of my favourite Habs when I was a kid, and I wanted so much more from the grandson.
But if he accepts the offer and stays, maybe he can pick it up a big notch.
Andreas Engqvist is another who hasn’t dazzled. Fifteen games over two season, with points tallying at 0-0-0. But he was given an offer.
Brad Staubitz is a UFA and his name hasn’t seemed to come up much lately, so I’m assuming there’s still a chance he could be Hab next season. I like teams that are tough, you probably do too, and Montreal wasn’t tough until Staubitz came along and gave Ryan White a hand in that honourable department. Staubitz proved more than willing to pound it out. The opposite of Georges Laraque.
With Staubitz and White being feisty, the Canadiens have that extra dimension we’ve been missing, thanks to previous management miscues.
Michael Blunden wasn’t given an offer, and when I think back on how Blunden played, I see a good-sized player who got his nose dirty from time to time, who crashed the net and got involved, but scored only when certain planets aligned. Just twice in 39 games. Blunden is a right winger, as is Staubitz, so is Staubitz sticking?
I’m not trying to be an expert, and maybe I’m missing certain technicalities that I’m not aware of, but what I know is, the Canadiens have to pull up their socks like they’ve never been pulled up before, so the decisons to keep some and let others go are key decisions. Onwards and upwards. The team found themselves in the dumpster last season, and now it’s time for them to climb out, wipe themselves off, and go to work to make sure such disaster never occurs again. At least not in my lifetime.
That sound a little selfish. Not in my lifetime. Yes I care about future Habs fans who will want Cups long after I’m gone. I can see these future fans now, watching on their 100 inch 3-D televisons while robots brings them beer, the sight of grizzled 40-year old Alex Galchenyuk Jr., son of legendary Hall of Famer Alex Galchenyuk, hoisting the Cup for the 7th time in his illustrious career. The tradition continues.