By Kristina, AllHabs.net
MONTREAL, QC — Habs fans, do you remember 1995? The team included John Leclair, Eric Desjardins, Gilbert Dionne, Kirk Muller, Mathieu Schneider, Craig Darby, Brian Bellows, J.J. Daigneault, Mike Keane and of course the great Patrick Roy.
Sounds like the core of a strong NHL team, doesn’t it?
Well, it was, until all those players were traded in the 1995 calendar year.
You cannot help but think how unfortunate it was 16 years ago when the Canadiens organization began to unravel beginning with the John Leclair trade who went on to score 812 points over 12 seasons, playing for the Flyers and Penguins and then culminating with the Patrick Roy trade who played in snowier pastures winning two more Stanley Cups with the Colorado Avalanche.
Sure, you can’t ignore the circumstances surrounding those trades made at the time and of course hindsight is always 20/20. But nevertheless, that was then…history.
And now, in present day 2011, the Habs sit in seventh spot in the Eastern conference with 32 games to play. In their arsenal, the team holds an All Star goaltender, a sidelined All Star defenseman, a leading defensive defensemen gone for the rest of the year, and of course the worst goal scoring of any playoff seeded team in the league.
The penalty kill has dropped from first in the league to sixth with an 84.2 per cent effectiveness, indicative of an aging defense logging minutes beyond their means. On the offensive side of the ice, no player has hit the 20-goal mark and the team sits at 23rd in the league in goals scored per game at 2.58.
Seems that this team is poised to yet again make their fans bite off their finger nails as they watch and hope that “les glorieux” make the post-season.
It certainly doesn’t take a rocket scientist to determine what the Montreal Canadiens’ needs are with over half the season in the bank and trade deadline day looming closer.
Shoring up the defensive corps and obtaining some offensive firepower are atop the shopping list. Too bad those items aren’t on sale at your local grocery store.
A blockbuster trade on deadline day seems highly unlikely given that Pierre Gauthier doesn’t fit the bill of being an aggressive GM.
“I’m not a big fan of the trade deadline as you well know, I don’t believe in giving large assets for players that play 15-20 games for you in that season, particularly that it is very tough for players to connect with the team and build some chemistry that quickly,” said Gauthier. “Having said that, you have to keep all your options open and that’s what we will do.”
Fair enough.
Expecting anything more than those comments made by Gauthier on January 6, 2011 would simply be unrealistic for the type of GM he has established himself as being so far in his tenure. This man does deserve a lot of credit for making a trade under the radar in the James Wisniewski acquisition but unfortunately, Gauthier’s work for the balance of the season seems far from over.
Two major needs, 27 days, and approximately $3.6 million in acquisition cap space to play with. The options seem clear: do nothing, focus on improving the defense or shake up the forward positions.
What would you do?
(PHOTO: ANDRÉ PICHETTE, LA PRESSE)