Sayonara Habbies......

that was a fun (albeit short) ride, can I put another quarter in?  *sigh*   The Habs' season ended much too soon, but on the flip side  I have a life again and summer is right around the corner.  I'm not too terribly disappointed, they certainly were not on a cup run this year, not with our two top D men out for most of the season.  But the future looks bright.  Price, Subban and Pacioretty will only get better.  Our defense will be solid for a few years to come.  With free agency kicking in on July 1st, who should stay and who should go?  I'll put my general manager's hat on and set forth my recommendations.

Defense - Sign Hal Gill for two more years.  The chemistry and mentor ship between him and Subban is priceless.  I would offer Roman Hamrlik a year deal.  He could be paired with Spacek for next year, then the two of them can move on.   Spacek gets a lot of criticism from Habs' nation and granted he is slow.  On the plus side, he is a team guy and there's no doubt in my mind that he does his best and gives one hundred percent.  People also have to keep in mind that he was coming off knee surgery, so that didn't help his cause.  If he plays lesser minutes next year I think he'll be fine. Resign Andre Markov and Josh Gorges  for another three years, they are a solid first D pairing.  I like the Wiz, but his defensive play had lapses and with the (hopeful) return of Markov and PK's laser we no longer need his shot on the powerplay.  He would also be too expensive.  Brent Sopel did what he was hired to do, block shots and be a good team player. Best of luck to him in his future endeavors.  Ditto for Paul Mara.

Forwards - Give Pouliot and Kostitsyn their walking papers, replace them with a winger that's consistent and engaged.   Give Gomez a chance for redemption, if he doesn't come through next season, make some hard decisions.  Try to trade him, put him on waivers or in Hamilton. Whatever it takes, the team can't afford to be weighted down for another three years by a non-productive top six center.   Sign Darche for another year.  Alex Auld is not worth another million dollar contract to play twelve games.  But I like the fact that he's comfortable in his role as backup and doesn't appear to be bothered by lack of ice time.   Try to sign him for another year for half of that amount.   David Desharnais and Lars Eller stay as third and forth line centers.  The rest of the pieces are interchangeable in my opinion, perhaps an upgrade on Travis Moen could be in order.

I have no plan B for this years' playoffs, my beloved Sakus' Ducks are keeping company on the golf course with the Penguins.  In the true spirit of sportsmanship, I hope the Flyers knock the Bruins into tomorrow. But after yesterday's 7-3 blowout  I think we may have to lend the Flyers Carey Price.  *gasp*  Hey, it's for a good cause, right?   I don't want the Canucks to win the cup, their fans are so arrogant without having won a thing.  Just imagine what they would be like if they really had bragging rights.  Ugh.  I'll settle for a Tampa Bay/Detroit final.  I feel no ill will towards either team but I think Detroit would come out on the winning side.

Enough about hockey.  Now I can turn this blog into a travel/foodie/adventures of the Moey kind chronicle for the next few months.  Next up - departing this coming Thursday for a nine day vacation to San Francisco and Las Vegas. If my three readers choose to stick around, lovely! :)   If not, see you in September.