Thank You Pat

Thank You Pat

For the great memories.If I may,I will speak on the behalf of the fans of the Hull Olympiques.There was never a dull moment in the Robert-Guertin arena.It have may have been destiny,but thirty years before you started coaching junior in Hull at the time,an another legend was being schooled also,I believe he was William Scott ''Scotty'' Bowman.Like him,you ended up coaching the Canadiens.

Pat,not too many people can brag about having the chance to have coached two legendary goaltenders,Roy and Brodeur,both brought you to cup finals.

When looking at your coaching career,Pat,in your first five years behind a bench,you never got less that 85 points.In the first seasons behind the Canadiens,Leafs,Bruins and Devils bench,you averaged 45 wins,and 103 points per season.Three Jack Adams trophy wins.All coaching original six teams,Montreal in 89,Toronto in 93 and Boston in 98.You may have not gotten it in New Jersey,but won a better trophy, The Stanley cup.

Lets take a look at the players you had the pleasure to coach.Larry Robinson,Bob Gainey,Chris Chelios,Guy Carbonneau and Patrick Roy in Montreal.Doug Gilmour,Wendel Clark,Dave Andreychuck,Grant Fuhr in Toronto.You got to coach Joe Thornton, when you where both in your first season in Boston.You had a pretty good line-up in New Jersey when you won the cup.

In all, you had a pretty good career as a bench boss,Pat.You will be missed.I know your looking down and wondering and reading the papers delivered to the pearly gates,and saying to yourself, ''Move on boys and girls.'' We will Pat,but it won't be easy.

Pat,we will look after Line,Jason,Maureen and your grandson,Samuel.

Thank you again,Pat,for the great memories.

After 20 games last year and …

As most teams will be getting closer to the 20 game mark of the season,I thought it would be idea to look at their record after same amount of games last year.I placed the teams by divisions and by the amount of points they got.So let’s start with the Eastern Conference teams. Teams in red,missed the playoffs.

Eastern Conference

NorthEast Division

Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS
Buffalo	20	12	6	2	26
Ottawa	20	11	6	3	25
Boston	20	8	8	4	20
Montreal	20	9	11	0	18
Toronto	20	3	11	6	12

Atlantic Division

Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS
New Jersey	20	14	5	1	29
Pittsburgh	20	13	7	0	26
Philadelphia	20	12	7	1	25
Rangers	20	11	8	1	23
Islanders	20	7	6	7	21

SouthEast Division

Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS
Washington	20	12	4	4	28
Atlanta	20	10	7	3	23
Tampa Bay	20	8	5	7	23
Florida	20	9	9	2	20
Carolina	20	3	12	5	11

Western Conference

Central Division

Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS
Chicago	20	13	5	2	28
Columbus	20	12	6	2	26
Detroit	20	10	6	4	24
Nashville	20	11	8	1	23
Sr-Louis	20	8	8	4	20

Northwest Division

Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS
Calgary	20	12	6	2	26
Colorado	20	12	5	3	25
Vancouver	20	10	10	0	20
Edmonton	20	8	10	2	18
Minnesota	20	7	11	2	16

Pacific Division

Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS
San Jose	20	13	4	3	29
Los Angeles	20	11	7	2	24
Dallas	20	9	5	6	24
Phoenix	20	11	9	0	22
Anaheim	20	7	10	3	17

As you can see,even with a good start,Calgary, missed the playoffs. I now its pretty hard to compare one season to an another, as a lot of teams change their personel year to year.Either signing free agents or change coaches.But in the end,its order for one and only reason,win the Stanley Cup.We often mention playoff races,but in reality it’s a marathon.Winning the grand prize in hockey, is the hardest of all major sports.

In January, I will take a look at where the teams where at midpoint in the season in 2009-10.

The Salary cap

I try to stop myself from laughing everytime I read a Gm mention that its hard to make trades under the cap system.Nobody, told you that you had constantly bump against the cap limit every year.Keeping yourself some space in case of possible injuries,slow starts and make shake ups would have been a great idea.You can always go the owner and ask them why they allowed a cap system based on average salary instead of actual salary.Gentlemen,before the lockout, the average payroll per team was about 43.5 million per team,based on actual salary.Today,under the present system,its about 55 million.So much for cost certainty.Don’t expect too much sympathy from the fans in the next CBA negociations.

The Canadiens traded defensemen Ryan O’Byrne to the Colorado Avalanche in return for centerman,Michaël Bournival from Shawinigan of the Quebec major junior league.The Canadiens had them on their list in 2009,but Colorado grabbed in the third round.It’s a good trade for both sides.it also gave Habs Gm Pierre Gauthier some cap space he needed,but also O’Byrne will see more ice time in Colorado than he could of in Montreal.Thank you,Ryan for your services in Montreal,I’m sure you will take what you learned will help your career in Colorado.

Philadelphia Flyers,resigned restricted free agent Jeff Carter to an 11 year,58 million dollar contract,which take effect in 2011-12.With this signing, the Flyers have 57.5 million committed to 18 players.If the cap stays the same next season,Paul Holmgren could be forced to trade a player.

That’s all for now. !