Switching hats tonight for a few words on hockey. Those who know me know that I am a diehard Montreal Canadiens fan and have been my entire life.

FAIL FOR NAIL

Having watched them tank this year, with no hope of making the playoffs, I have come up with an idea to encourage them to fail…FAIL FOR NAIL.


Nail Yakupov Photo: thescoutingreport.org


If the Habs can finish as a bottom feeder (bottom 5) they are in contention to get the first overall pick.

That pick will most likely be the young phenom Nail Yakupov (Наиль Якупов) , the the OHL’s Sarnia Sting. In his rookie season he had 49 goals, 52 assists for 101 points in 65 games. This season he has 29 goals, 22 goals, 33 assists for 55 points in 29 games. (source HockeyDB.com).

The Habs need a superstar. Not since the days of the Flying Frenchmen have they had a bona fide superstar that can be a game-breaker. This is the hero that Montreal fans have been longing for since the days of Guy Lafleur.

With a name like Nail, you know he has to be good. Can you imagine the puns that will play out in the sports media?

How about these future headlines?

‘Nails It’ Habs continued their record 25-game winning streak last night…

Habs win in another ‘Nail Biter’ …

Cup banner Nailed to the rafters…

What will they call his shot? I have a suggestion:

 The ‘Nail Gun’

He plays with an edge too, so what will they say when he lays out a bone-crushing hit? Oh yeah:

Yakupov ‘Nails’ him…

ummm maybe not…that just sounds bad on a whole lot of levels. We won’t go there.

While some of the vets in the Habs Newsgroup, where I tend to troll hang out,  do not agree with me on this, I have to respectfully disagree with them. Montreal needs their superstar. They need to wrap themselves up in all of the drama that goes with having a top-tier player in the lineup.

The Nail Yakupov Show

YouTube Preview Image

While Carey Price may be a thoroughbred, and Saint Patrick Roy may have stood on his head for a couple of Stanley Cups; they are not the type of superstar that Montreal fans crave. The finicky Hab fans need a star who can nail up huge offensive numbers. It has been a long time coming and this years edition of the Habs need encouragement from us fans for them to fail so we get Nail in a Habs jersey.

The bigger the failure, the better the odds. Only the bottom five teams have a shot at him, so cheer on the Habs to future victory and glory. Cheer for them to lose all of their remaining games in the 2011-2012 season.

From mynhldraft.com:

Teams can only move up 4 slots maximum (ie. only the top 5 teams have a shot at winning the lottery) and drop no more than 1 spot in the order. So whoever finishes last overall in the regular season standings has a 48.2% off winning the draft lottery.

Pierre ‘the Goat’ Gauthier

Who is this guy? Has anyone ever seen him? Heard from him? Oh yeah, isn’t he the one who signed Andre Markov to a contract extension because he was progressing as expected? Hmmm how many times has that song played this season?

I seem to remember him as the poster boy for, as Paul Simon once sung, The Sound of Silence. He, in his lack of support of Coach Cunneyworth, during the recent french media bashing for Randy’s lack of parlez-vous, was nothing short of deplorable. That was the proverbial ‘throwing the coach under the bus’. His silence on the matter was deafening, but that is the expected norm for Gauthier. Actually I made a mistake, he apologized for hiring him…

MONTREAL GAZETTE: Canadiens GM Pierre Gauthier apologizes for hiring unilingual coach

I would suspect that he has lost the respect of the coaching staff and players for that gaffe; but there is good news on the horizon. A highly probable outcome from a successful FAIL FOR NAIL campaign would be that the Goat gets turfed by the ownership group. Hence the catch phrase:

FIRE FOR MCGUIRE

Now on to Pierre McGuire. Love him or hate him he has let it be known that he would love to be a GM in the NHL. Having been interviewed for the job in Minnesota he was, at least in the minds of one ownership group, a serious candidate. How many are you rolling your eyes or laughing? Then you are not well informed…read on:


Pierre McGuire photo by The Montrealer Online


Here are some excellent points raised by McGuire, that makes a great case for turfing The Goat, and letting him have the job:

From MitchMelnick.com

Radek Bonk – This move has Pierre Gauthier written all over it. He’s not that good.

Cristobal Huet – I remain highly skeptical. He’s never been this good at any level. I don’t think he can sustain this high level of play.

Sergei Samsanov – Did they not watch the Stanley Cup final? He’s a parameter player.

Guillaume Latendresse – Big mistake if he starts in the NHL as an 18 year old. He needs to develop properly. Don’t rush him.

Janne Niinimma – Love the guy. Real good player. Great teammate. But I don’t know how much he has left. His best days are way behind him.

Sheldon Souray – One trick pony. There isn’t much interest around the league. I don’t know who’s going to sign him. Don’t know how effective he can be in post lockout era.

Alexei Emelin – They’ve got to get him over here. He can play in the NHL.

Kyle Chipchura – I worry about his skating, especially after his knee injury. Might be able to hang on as a 4th line player.

Alex Tanguay – A 1st round pick? Terrible trade.

Robert Lang – Can still play but don’t know how much he has left. A lot of miles in that body.

Roman Hamrlik – A good player but I don’t know about that 4th year. He’ll help but the term is one year too long.

Georges Laraque – You wanted him, you’ve got him. Why didn’t Pittsburgh want him back?

Chris Higgins – He’s got to stop talking about being a 30 goal scorer. He’s not.

Mike Cammalleri – I don’t know how many other teams would have given him a 6th year.

Brian Gionta – A true gamer. Real solid player and teammate. But again, that 5th year might be a killer. Montreal seems to have to add an extra year to get players to sign.

Jaroslav Spacek – Good player but not much left in the tank. Was a healthy scratch for Buffalo last year. I’d rather have Francois Beauchemin.

Scott Gomez – See Above

Travis Moen – Very useful player if you give him a defined role.

Hal Gill – Very effective defensively. Better than people think, especially on the penalty kill.

Benoit Pouliot – First player I would have traded if I had gotten the job in Minnesota.

Dominic Moore – Why did they give up a second round pick when they could have had this player as a free agent?

Marc Andre Bergeron – Good pick up as a fill in for Markov on power play. Serious issues in his own end.

PK Subban – Will be a star player. Maybe more. But manage expectations.

Jeff Halpern – Real smart player. Valuable role guy. But not the same on his skates since ripping up his knee.

Lars Eller – If he ends up playing on the top two lines then the trade is a good one. But I believe they could have and should have gotten more. Coming off the season and playoffs he had you had to drive up the price for Halak. They didn’t do that.

Erik Cole – Very good signing. I worry about that 4th year but he’s what they need.

Chris Campoli – A depth defenseman at this stage. People think he’s a really good skater but he’s knock kneed. Prone to mistakes.

Rene Bourque – I like the trade but it really depends on what they do with the money saved on the Cammalleri contract and what they do with that second round pick.

2011-2012 Montreal Canadiens – If they don’t finish in the top 5 on the power play they won’t make the playoffs.

If that was not enough street creds, his pedigree was given a major boost when hockey legend, Scotty Bowman, came out in his corner, thinking that he would make a great GM for the Montreal Canadiens.

From MitchMelnik.com

As Scotty Bowman told me just before Christmas Pierre was a “hockey guy” long before he hit radio and television. Scotty met Pierre at St. Lawrence University in New York in the 1980′s. He eventually brought Pierre to Pittsburgh where McGuire worked as a scout and assistant coach helping the Penguins win two Stanley Cups.

I don’t know about you, but if Scotty supports Pierre McGuire, then I do. He is just what the Habs need in the front office. Someone who is vocal, someone who is bilingual, and someone who is a native Montrealer.

HELP ME PLACE A FULL PAGE AD IN THE MONTREAL GAZETTE

I am dead serious on this. I want to raise enough money to put the following on a full page ad in the sports section of the Montreal Gazette:

FAIL FOR NAIL

FIRE FOR MCGUIRE

Nothing else. Just that. I am not allowed to use Habs logos or mention the team in an ad but I can say what we all want and think. If I raise the required funds and the Gazette turns me down then I will donate the money to whatever charities that the Montreal Canadiens support. The same will apply if I do not raise enough money.

So to show your support I give you two options buy this high quality T-Shirt that supports the cause:

 

 

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