Matt D’Agostini
The players to watch in the next 1-2 years will be the Prices, D’Agostinis, Kostitsyns and the Maxwells of the hockey world ( or at least the Canadiens’ hockey world!!!). These players will be the future of the Habs and it certainly looks like a bright future. Bob Gainey and Trevor Timmins (you can also add in Andre Savard as well) have done a great job of selecting some talented young players especially in the later rounds.
I can remember watching the 2005 NHL draft with some friends when Timmins went to the podium and announced: “The Montreal Canadiens are proud to select from the Tri-City Americans, Carey Price”. At that time, my friends and I were angry and totally confused by the selection of young Mr. Price. We thought that the Habs were set in nets with Jose Theodore (not realizing at the time, the total collaspe he would have) and watched in horror as other teams selecting after the Canadiens took players like Gilbert Brule (Columbus), Luc Bourdon(Vancouver), Anze Kopitar(LA) and Marc Staal(NYR). Well, two and half years have passed since then and only two players from the first round have started their NHL careers with any notoriety, Sidney Crosby and Anze Kopitar. There are other players of notable mention who were drafted in the second round like Paul Stastny, Guillaume Latendresse and Marc-Edouard Vlasic but overall the 2005 class has not developed quickly.
As the expression goes, hindsight is 20/20 so looking back at the selection of Carey Price, we can see his development as a future star and appreciate the foresight that Trevor Timmins had when he urged Gainey to pick Price. Canadiens fans can also appreciate the selections of Matt D’Agostini (6th round #190) and Sergei Kostitsyn (7th round #200) in the same draft year and fully understand that the Montreal Canadiens can find the “diamonds in the rough”. In Trevor Timmins, we trust!!!!!
Here is the list of players selected in the 2005 NHL draft:
http://www.nhl.com/draft/2005/round1.html
