Habster:
There is no doubt in my mind that Sergei Kostitsyn will make the Canadiens roster next season and maybe this year if Guy Carbonneau runs into (dare I say it….) injury problems with 2-3 players on his current roster.
As Julien Brisebois stated in the La Presse article, “It’s not a question of whether he will play in the National League, but when he will play”. I couldn’t agree more with Brisebois’ assessment and like Brisebois, I also think Sergei is definitely ahead of his brother at this stage of his hockey career because of his two years in junior with the London Knights. Those two years of junior hockey allowed him to acclimatize to the North American style of play and rink size.
During his playing days in London, he was used in every game situation: Powerplay, penalty killing, 5 on 5 and even in the dying moments of games when they were protecting the lead. London coach, Dale Hunter was never afraid to use Sergei Kostitsyn in any game situation which is a great compliment coming from such a great, tough as nails former NHLer like Hunter (yes I realize he was despised by all hab fans when he wore the hated Quebec Nordiques uniform but wouldn’t you have loved a Dale Hunter type on your team!!!).
With players like Kostitsyn waiting in the wings, the future looks incredibly bright for the Montreal Canadiens and I can hardly wait to see how it unfolds moving forward towards the 100th Centennial celebrations in 2008-2009 season and beyond!!!!
